Scars Sometimes Fade CH 8 Up!
by ktsvillefan
Summary: Zuko/OC. A girl from Zuko's path runs into Zuko again after years of running away from her dark past. Can she get over her physical and emotional scars left by the Prince enough to let him in? READ & REVIEW! A LOT BETTER THAN SUMMARY. CH 8 UP!
1. Chapter 1

Scars Never Fade

Scars Sometimes Fade

Ch. 1

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. _Zuko breathed slowly, watching the flame of the candle rise and fall in time with his breaths. But, of course, something broke his attention on the tiny fire.

Zuko watched as the Avatar, '_I mean Aang,' _inhaled a breath as if he was the Big Bad Wolf-bat about to blow down the Three Little Sheep-pigs houses, and exhaled watching as he got the flame to rise higher depending on the measure of his breath. The young Airbender smiled lightly at his accomplishment and Zuko couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing?!" he asked in feigned sharpness.

This broke the boy's concentration. "Zuko. Uh-I mean Sifu, sorry I was just­–"

"Having a little too much fun…" Zuko finished with a laugh which relaxed his nervous pupil. "It's alright. I just want you to know the purpose of this sort of meditation. Aang, you're a great Firebender and you're learning quickly but as a monk you should know about this sort of thing. Meditation with the fire, putting all your focus into the tiny flame, in getting it to match your breaths, your demeanor truly makes you one with the fire and gives you the proper focus you'll need when we start on more advance moves."

Aang nodded. "I understand. Sorry Sifu, I'll try to be more diligent next time."

The firebender smiled lightly, "It's alright. I just wanted you to know that. But let's call it a day, you've worked really hard and now you deserve some rest."

The young monk's smile grew. "Really?! Ah thanks Zuko!" he said rushing out of the room on his air scooter. Zuko listened to the abrupt stop and "Oomph" of a crash from just outside the door. A soft, and now slightly annoyed, female voice spoke next:

"Aang, I've been looking for you everywhere. Come on, I've got some new moves to teach you. You've been pretty lax on your waterbending training and I think you could use some practice," Katara said pulling herself from the tangle of arms and legs they had become, "Besides, I haven't seen a lot of you lately…you've been so busy practicing Firebending and I miss you."

Zuko could almost see the blush rise to both their cheeks; Aang's blush probably deepest as he tried to come up with an answer. The tension between them that started to grow more and more lately was, although amusing, very distracting for his young pupil and he needed Aang's complete concentration if the boy wanted to master Firebending and so he hoped the young couple would stop avoiding what is right in front of them. '_But I suppose they both don't have a lot of time to think about it.' _It was true that Aang was constantly working, either with Zuko on Firebending, Toph on Earthbending and fighting strategies with the Water Tribe warriors and the newest additions to the group, Suki and Chet Zang, who didn't know much about strategy but was ready to help out whenever possible.

Zuko shook his head. _'We're quite the team, but they're all determined to win. All ready to fight for what they love.' _Zuko thought back onto what he loved, Mai, his country and he was ready to fight for them and make amends to all those that this war had hurt and that he had hurt personally. The small flame rose higher as he thought about those people he had hurt. He tried to get them out of his mind but he lost control when he heard _**her**_scream of pain and the flame grew and rose, exploding in a series of embers that disperses across the ceiling of his room. '_I haven't thought about that in a while_,_' _Zuko thought the scream still echoing in his mind.

--

The flames that danced across the ceiling from her recent outburst reflected in her cerulean eyes. The girl, her shiny black hair now glistening in the light lowered her head and began breathing, trying to calm herself down. _Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. _She hate it when she lost control, her temper was a weakness of hers and she usually never let it show to her troops. _'Anger is just a sign of weakness. To be a true leader you must never show it, you must always be cool and collected ready for everything, always able to calculate your opponents next more without any emotions getting in the way.' _Her masters' voices echoed in her mind. Their teachings held truth and with her calculating, calm ways she was able to climb to the status of general in the military hierarchy. Those masters, once her superiors were now her contemporaries. They actually looked to her for advice these days. She couldn't help but smile at the thought, gazing affectionetly at her uniform, the new gold detailing reflecting in the flame that had finally calmed down.

_'It's hard to keep myself from getting angry on this day' _she thought to herself falling onto her back to look up on the black metal ceiling of her room. It was the anniversary of many things. It was the day she was saved by the Fire Nation from becoming an uneducated, unruly water tribe peasant and taken to live with a man she had treated like her father. "Iroh..." she murmured feeling a pang of grievance for having to leave him so soon, of being taken away from him. The grief was gone in a flash and was soon replaced by anger. "It was all Zuko's fault!" she whispered angrily the flames exploding to the height of the ceiling again, this time she did nothing to calm down.

The creak of the door swinging open interrupted her internal triage and the flames again dispersed the small candle going out entirely leaving nothing to light up the girl except for the eerie moonlight shining through the porthole.

"Yes? What do you want?" she asked harshly, rubbing her temples.

"We've arrived at the Boiling Rock. Do you want to come get the prisoners for transfer, General?" the soldier replied calmly, although sensing that something was wrong. There was a pause, a silence when the young general didn't answer. "Kya?" he asked sincerely worried about his friend. "Is anything wrong? I know it's the anniversary but you've never let it get in the way before.

The general, Kya, laughed coldly. "I'm a top general for the Fire Nation yet here I am transporting prisoners, a job that I believe is far beneath my title."

He gave a weak smile, "To be fair it was you who suggested the move of Mai and Ty-lee, so Zuko and his friends wouldn't cause anymore havoc. Make the nation actually worry about an attack by them."

Kya nodded, "I suppose it's my fault then that I keep getting involved in his life." Her brow crinkled deeper into confusion. She stood up and gave the soldier, her second-in-command Shang a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He smiled at her with shining golden eyes.

"You're not doing this for him. You're doing this for your nation…"

The girl nodded again a ghost of a smile reaching her lips. Shang always was there to calm her down. "Well, as my second-in-command I'm sure that you can handle getting the prisoners on the boat without having them escape."

Shang nodded in reply, "I'm on it." He took off toward the hall but paused at the doorway. "You going to be ok?"

"I always am," she said simply before turning her back on her friend. She heard the door shut behind him. "It's for your nation" she told herself. "This is the last time you'll have to be involved in such things. Then you can go on with your life. Fight for your country and fight the Avatar and his team. Zuko is no different. He is one of them. He's just a traitor now." She tried to block Zuko out of her mind but all she managed to do was make her own screams of pain echo in her brain.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch

A/N- Some mention of Ember Island Players in here, but really no spoilers.

Ch. 2

Zuko watched from a fallen pillar as the two female benders pelted the young Avatar with their elements. He looked to Haru who was nursing his leg now bruised and scraped from the fight. _'He's probably nursing his bruised ego too'_ he thought with a small smile. Aang and the Earthbender had agreed to a fight with the girls who were currently dominating the situation. Although he was invited to join in the 'Bending Battle' he decided to observe for once. He thought back to his Uncle who had shown him techniques derived from Waterbending. '_Perhaps I can learn a thing or two from these masters as well.' _He watched as Katara took on her signature octopus form to meet upcoming flames thrown by Aang. Zuko smiled at his pupil's doing, proud of his success with the element. For a while longer he observed the flowing movements of Katara, the sharp, blunt bending of the blind girl and finally the light-footed and quick movements of Aang's Airbending. He was just trying to come up with a way to put the styles to his own bending when he was pulled out of his reverie by a sudden explosion of rock, ice and fire. Each of the fighters had been thrown a ways from the fighting area all stumbling to get up. _'Must have backfired' _Zuko deduced as he came over to help the young Airbender from the large amount of rock he was currently buried in. From behind he heard the scream of a certain blue-eyed female:

"Ugh. My clothes! How the heck am I supposed to wear these anymore?" Zuko turned to see her garments singed and covered in mud and ripped at almost every angle. Zuko looked to the other benders around him whose clothes, except for Haru's, were in the same state.

"What's the problem? You have more don't you?" Zuko asked.

"Not Fire nation clothes; these were are last" Toph answered pulling at the torn edges.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have been practicing in them," Zuko argued, "and what's the problem, just change into your regular clothing…"

"Yea but what if we want to go out; we'll need to get supplies sometime." She paused to shake dirt out of her hair. "Or what if we wanted to see a play again?" She said laughing to the others dismay who didn't want to ever have to relive the play they saw at Ember Island just weeks ago.

"Yea like that's going to happen," Zuko replied sarcastically. "Well, alright we'll need to head to a nearby town and get some clothes then. "We can get some for the others anyway."

Aang pushed himself up with a gust of air. "Good idea. We'll take Appa and head to a town, there's one a couple hours away." He looked over at the fading sunlight. "We should head out when it gets dark so we won't be spotted."

As soon as it was dark the kids loaded up and headed off into the dark sky.

--

Kya hated this job. Her feat ached, her tan skin, although it did protect her more than the others from the sun had a slight pink tinge to it and she predicted the burns would really start to, well burn, in the morning. After she and her men left the Boiling Rock they had taken a boat to the nearest land. The boat, _her_ ship, was being used for some "greater purpose" than transporting prisoners and so they were on foot the rest of the way to the new jail. They had just set up their camp an hour ago and now she was sitting in front of a flickering flame, silently eating her noodles while her men played music and dance, enjoying life, and watching her captives from across the fire who had taken it upon themselves to stare at her. Awkwardly. One who had never met these girls would have seen it as compassion for a friend. Kya knew different, these girls had never been her friends _'No matter how hard I tried to reach out to them' _she thought suddenly. As she tried to shake away the thoughts of her past, the girl in pink looked at her with a calm she had never seen out of the bubbly girl and spoke: "You've changed," she said simply.

Kya looked up from the spot of dirt she was determined to stare at and looked to Ty-lee. The once outgoing, rambunctious girl seemed to be subdued by her time in that horrid prison. Her hair was disheveled and she looked dirty; her clothes were torn and her body beaten and bruised, a fear shining in her eyes revealing what the guards did to her, how they beat the spirit out of her. Looking at the darkness in the girl's grey eyes brought thoughts of what those men could have done to her and it made her taste her lunch again just thinking about it. '_She's a pretty girl. Bad things happen to innocent, pretty girls.' _She then remembered that the girl had talked to her. She answered back.

"So have you…" she said calmly. "But I suppose that was only induced by the prison, not time."

Ty-lee shook her head, "True, my aura's a little dingier but I'm still the same person. You on the other hand, you've changed so much. I can see it in your eyes. You're not that positive, beautiful girl anymore. You're cold, your aura's practically black, I can see it your eyes." She gave Kya a sympathetic look. "It's the same look that Azula has­–

"Shut up." She said closing her eyes and looking down.

Mai finally spoke up, "I thought that was what you wanted. I mean you lived in the palace and were treated like them, but never one of them. But now look at you, you're just as cold, calculating and uncaring as Azula," she smirked, "and now you're an elite military general. You're finally at the top…you're finally one of them. Like the royal family. A destroyer of the world."

"No!" Kya said her voice rising slightly, along with the flames beside her, "I'm saving this world. And look who you're calling uncaring, Mai. I see your parents finally beat the emotion out of you." She tried to breathe and control her anger, hide her weakness from the pair but was unsuccessful at Mai's next words.

"At least my parents care about me. At least my family didn't abandon me like your father, you Water tribe wench. At least I'm not a mistake." She punctuated that last sentence, letting it sink into the young general. She smirked when the flames rose higher deceiving the controlled, cool look Kya wore. '_She may be like Azula, but she's still Kya. She's always had a temper that could even match Zuko's.'_

With speed and strength that Mai never realized the girl had, Kya had come around the fire in a blink and grabbed Mai by a handful of hair. "Now you listen to me and you listen good. I am not from the disgusting Water Tribe; **I am** a Fire Nation citizen and a lot more worthy of that title that you two are you filthy traitors. And you're right **I** am a top military general and **I** am your superior and you will follow my rules and you will show me respect." She pushed Mai roughly back to the ground and glared at both of them but then sensed the unbelievable silence around her. The music had stopped and all of her subordinates were looking at her as if she were going crazy. None had ever seen her like this.

She saw Shang stepping through the crowd to say something, a look of concern in his golden eyes, she stopped him. "I'm going for a walk," she declared looking around. She tried a weak smile, "Don't worry about me, and go back to having fun. Just keep an eye on the prisoners, shouldn't be too hard as most of you have been drooling over them since we had them in our hands." There was a murmur of weak laughter at her statement and some movement as they all tried to get back to what they were doing. Kya with a sigh of relief turned on her heals and went off into the dense forest.

--

Zuko sat against the bison's saddle, rolling his eyes at the bickering siblings.

"So much for your superior map-reading Sokka. Aang said the town was only a couple of hours away and we've been flying for…well way over that!"

"This is not my fault it's kind of hard to see where you're going when it's dark out and besides what does Aang know he can't read a map."

"Hey!" the Airbender tried to interject but was quickly silenced along with the others by an angry Toph.

"Will you guys be quiet for a second?! You'll wake the whole Fire nation at this rate…And besides I think I heard voices down below."

Zuko peered over the edge of the bison. Sure enough there was a large campsite set up in a clearing of the forest they were flying over. There was a large bonfire blazing in the center while men danced around music that filled the air with its lovely sound. Suddenly, the fire flared into the night sky and one yell, a "No!" rang out silencing all those at the site.

"Go lower Aang" the Firebender murmured. Seeing the look on Zuko's face the young Avatar complied and went lower. The yelling girl's words became clearer as they descended and they made Zuko pull in a sharp breath, "Mai…?" he whispered in disbelief.

_"I'm saving this world. And look who you're calling uncaring, Mai. I see your parents finally beat the emotion out of you."_

"Aang land here!" Zuko said in a loud whisper. Again the Airbender complied and landed in a clearing not far from the campsite. Zuko leaped off the giant bison and was about to take off in a sprint when a tattooedreached for his shoulder.

"Zuko, you can't just go barging into a Fire Nation army campsite, you'd be caught…or worse" said Aang, concern shining in his grey eyes. Let's plan for a moment and find out what we're up against. He looked angrily at Aang but soon resigned his. The Airbender gave his friend's shoulder a light squeeze. "I want to help you save you're friends. But let's make sure we're going to do this with as little consequence as possible for the rest of us."

Zuko looked from the monk to the others who obviously agreed with the Avatar, he nodded. "Alright," he said slowly, "let's do some spying then."

--

Zuko and the others crept to the campsite, hiding in the surrounding bushes. Of course, Sokka, the least stealthy of the group tripped over a log and fell to the ground with a loud "Oomph!" Zuko groaned inwardly but realized it didn't even matter as all the men in the campsite stood transfixed on the shouting woman, who judging by her uniform was their general, and didn't even hear the accident. Her voice, laced with malice, rang out significantly in the silence.

_"Now you listen to me and you listen good. I am not from the disgusting Water Tribe; __**I am**__ a Fire Nation citizen and a lot more worthy of that title that you two are you filthy traitors. And you're right __**I**__ am a top military general and __**I**__ am your superior and you will follow my rules and you will show me respect." _

Zuko was puzzled at her meaning but soon forgot all that was coming out of her mouth as she roughly shoved his ex-girlfriend to the ground. Steam was coming out of his nose and his breathing was heavy, and although he couldn't see her face he really wanted to punch it. One look from Katara that obviously said, 'Calm down or I'll make you,' forced him to repress his anger for the moment. He watched as the general finally realized that people were watching her and she left in a hurry into the forest. Zuko made no hesitation to follow her.

He ran fast, following the agile female as she wove through trees and easily cleared logs that needed jumping. Finally, the girl stopped, allowing Zuko to catch his breath; he realized they were at a small clearing with a stream running through its center, the moonlight shining brightly down onto it. 'It could be a beautiful landscape painting, if not for the horrid, evil 'smudge' that was slowly approaching the stream. He watched for a moment as she simply sat at a rock at the waters' edge, allowing herself to breath normally again. A few seconds later she folded her legs and began to meditate, or at least he assumed from the deep breathing, he couldn't see her face. But with meditating he assumed her eyes would be closed. His face set into a satisfied smirk. Suddenly, he heard heavy breathing behind him. His companions had caught up to him, each stared back at him with incredulous looks. Sokka was the first to speak:

"What are you doing?"

Zuko answered at a whisper, "Saving my girlfriend…" The same confused look was on their faces so he continued, "This is their general and so maybe the rest of the troops would be willingly to make a trade: Her returning to them, for Mai and Ty-lee. The others murmured, deciding whether this plan would work.

"Won't they just try and capture us if we go to them?" Toph asked.

"Not if we threaten her life. If I know anything about the Fire Nation is that we are a loyal people and we follow our superiors. They'd be willing to make the trade. We'd just have to get out of there quickly after we got Mai and Ty-lee back."

The others nodded, "This is risky, but it's a good a plan as any," Sokka replied for them, "We've fought Fire Nation soldiers before, shouldn't be a problem. A good warm-up for the invasion."

Zuko smiled at his joke and nodded at their acceptance of his plan. He then began his approach on the unaware general. He crept silently over to her, barely making a sound.

"He's worse than you Twinkle Toes" Toph whispered as she "looked" onto the scene.

He had almost reached her when he saw her visibly tense, obviously thinking she heard something. He froze in his spot, begging Agni not to let him get caught. It seemed that somewhere some god liked him as she relaxed again and went back to her meditation. Zuko let out a sigh and raised an arm to knock her out when he was suddenly hit back with the force of a water blast. He gasped and tumbled to the group feet away from where he last stood. As he struggeled to get up his first thought was 'She's a water bender?' He shook his head, regaining his bearing and leapt up to face his opponent ready to strike. His golden eyes met threatening blue ones and his face went from one of rage to one of surprise and realization.

"Kya?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N-Thanks for the reviews guys

A/N-Thanks for the reviews guys! Special thanks to blackghost7 who really gave me a humbling review, I'm glad you think that I'm a good writer and don't worry I'll keep it exciting, it's still a work in progress though This might be my last update for awhile…going on vacation with the fam for 3 weeks, I'll try to write but I might want to try to actually tan this summer.

"_Kya?"_

_--_

The Waterbender's arms fell to her sides, the streams of water that she had bending falling unceremoniously to the ground with a splash. She stared blankly at the Firebender across from her whose expression mirrored her own. A moment of awkward silence passed before she was able to find her voice again.

"Prince Zuko." She said, her voice cool, the name rolling simply off her tongue as one would state something. The surprise and blankness that her face once held was gone, a stony expression replacing it. Yet behind the façade a war was going inside her. She had hoped she would never have to see him again, yet here he was standing in front of her, a man now… '_A handsome one at that' _stated a voice in her mind…a voice she thought she had silenced long ago. She did not let any of this show, instead playing a confident smirk on her face. She wasn't going to let him get to her, not again. She realized she wouldn't have to worry though, gazing at the still stunned expression on his face. She could win this hand…

"Kya," the prince in question repeated still stunned at the fact that she was standing in front of her again, a girl he had hoped he would never have to face again. A wave of guilt washed over him but it was quickly put away when the girl spoke again.

"So, traitor, come to try and rescue your little girlfriend," she said with a dry laugh. "Well you're doing a great job, getting yourself caught by me and all."

The Firebender's fists became clenched and steam rolled off his body, the heat he was emitting evaporating the water from his clothes. To Kya's surprise, he mimicked her certain expression.

"Well…actually it'll be you who is getting caught," Zuko replied, arrogance in his tone.

As if on queue slabs of rocks shot out from the ground around Kya, completely immobilizing her. All she could do was glare at Zuko and the rest of his gang that emerged from the brush.

"Ah, the Avatar and his 'troops…' How quaint."

"Hey we just totally caught you, Hot Head" Toph retorted with a smirk. With a stomp she started moving the rocks that surrounded Kya so that she dragged along the ground with them, still trapped. "Come on, Zuko; let's go get your girlfriend…"

--

The walk back to the campsite was an excruciating painful '_and boring', _experience Kya thought absently as she was dragged along by the blind Earthbender. None had said a word to her since her capture, no taunting, and no confidence, no anything. It was a bit unnerving for the General, who had been captured countless occasions, '_always escaping with easy, of course…but its usually because they are overconfident and make some sort of error that I can use to my advantage…these people must have had the confidence beat out of them during their invasion.' _Indeed it would seem that way, all had determined expressions on their faces, yet she could sense the doubt in the air, particularly from the Airbender, the Avatar, his eyes downcast as they continued their silent march, '_obviously battle-hardened…yet he's younger than I would imagine and has a wise air to him…if he wasn't the enemy I'm sure he would be someone I would want to talk to…But anyway they're being particularly cautious with me, I doubt they'll give me an opening…Oh well, guess it will be brawn over brain today…'_

"Hey!" shouted Sokka, interrupting her thoughts, "what are you smirking at?"

"Oh nothing…" she said innocently, her smirk growing wider when he turned his back.

"She's lying" Toph interjected, "You sure she can't break out of here Zuko, you obviously know her best, can she break out of here?"

"Well I don't really know her that well…" Zuko said weakly. _'Damn right he doesn't'_.

"She shouldn't," said the other Waterbender, who was mentioned as Katara, "not unless she can bend water with her mind…"

"So how does a Waterbender become part of the Fire Nation army?" questioned the young Avatar.

Kya was silent for a moment, then decided it would do no harm to answer, "I'm a Fire Nation citizen…I have every right to be part of the army and I have trained diligently until I could become a general. '_Besides…they don't know I'm a Waterbender…just that I look like one.' _

"A general?" Zuko said, surprised.

"It's been a long time since you've seen me Zuko. I've changed…Nice scar by the way…I hope these last 3 years with it have sucked." Kya said with a sneer.

Zuko was about to retort when Toph shushed them, "We're coming up on the campsite, be ready. Indeed the noise of happy soldiers became louder as they walked and soon they could see the red tents, and the fire blazing. Zuko also noticed Mai sitting at the fire, looking obviously annoyed at a drunken soldier who was trying to talk to her. Ty-lee sat next to her, silent around men for the first time in a long time… '_Alright here goes…everything.' _He whispered to Toph to push their prisoner forward and he entered holding his Dao swords to her neck.

"Nobody move!" he boomed as the soldiers made for their weapons. Most froze and glared at him, but made no moves as they saw their endangered leader.

"Alright. Listen. All I want is the girls. I want to make a trade. Them for your leader, General Kya."

A tall, handsome short haired man approached through the crowd, the soldiers parting for him quickly. His uniform proved that he was of a high rank. "I am Lieutenant General Shang," he said in a loud voice, "and if you have our General captured that puts me in command and we don't negotiate with criminals of the Fire Nation." He smirked, "besides…I don't think you could've probably chosen a worst bargaining chip," he said with a laugh gazing at Kya who returned his smirk and then moments later burst from the rock in an explosion of flames, causing all those around to step back to avoid the debris and fire.

Zuko's expression was less fear than stunned as he watched Kya step back into rank with her soldiers, her head held high. "You can firebend?"

"It's been a long time, Zuko…" she repeated simply, "You know nothing about me. With that she hurled a giant fireball at the Prince and the modest campsite soon turned into a raging battlefield.

--

A/N- Well I know it's short but I wanted to write a really good battle scene and I need to do some planning and imagine it out…Hope you enjoyed the chapter! R&R. Next chapter is where the story really develops and finally the plot can get rolling.


	4. Chapter 4

**So here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it. This chapter I think, although not part of the major plot line of the story is the chapter that gives it the extra push in the right direction. The fight was a little disappointing to me, but guess I'm not so good with action sequences. I'll leave it to animators As always R&R**

**-ktsvillefan**

--

"It's been a long time, Zuko…" she repeated simply, "You know nothing about me

"_It's been a long time, Zuko…" she repeated simply, "You know nothing about me. With that she hurled a giant fireball at the Prince and the modest campsite soon turned into a raging battlefield._

To Zuko time seemed to slow as the fireball hurtled at his face. It a stunt of flexibility that he never realized he bent backwards to avoid the oncoming flame. As he returned to his former stance time fast-forwarded again and he was soon engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the fiery General. It never ceased to amaze Zuko how Kya had indeed changed over the years. She had grown up, of course, her once small, almost boyish figure replaced by a taller, almost reaching Zuko's height, leaner one now containing more feminine curves that even despite the tenseness of the circumstances Zuko couldn't help but notice despite her uniform's attempts to conceal them. _'She's still as beautiful as ever.' _He was literally hit out of his reverie as Kya gave him a well applied kick to the leg. He heard a crack and bit his lip in pain until he tasted blood. He stumbled backward trying to transfer his weight to his good leg and prepare himself for a second wave as Kya charged him again, trying to make contact with his body in a flurry of arms and legs, showing her newfound, to Zuko at least, prowess in the art of fighting. _'She wouldn't have hurt a beetle-fly when I knew her last.' _But of course her physical form wasn't the only thing that he had changed. Her once lively cerulean eyes, that had once reminded him of a bubbling, rushing river, seemed to be frozen, like ice, yet they seemed to hold a dark fire beneath the hardness. She had become strict, calculating as he saw through her fighting style, each blow had meaning, and each blow had an intention to disarm him ready to win the fight. As much as he hated to admit it, his once good friend, with her shining uniform and tightly pulled back hair reminded him of his sister. '_Minus the crazy, hopefully_.' Luckily, due to the fact that Zuko had also developed in his own fighting skills he was able to block most of her attacks. Unfortunately, when fighting a Fire Nation General _most _is not good enough. As Zuko blocked yet another of his opponent's jabs she unleashed a wave of fire on him, causing him to have to use his own Firebending to block the attack, but the blast was so powerful he was forced to stumble back, tripping over a loose root in the ground.

Kya couldn't help but admire how Zuko had grown in his fighting ability. He was faster, stronger and held an air of determination and confidence that he had never possessed in his childhood. _'But he is not a child anymore,' _her mind said to her, interrupting her thoughts on the battle at hand. Despite the fact that she was only fighting Zuko she had been watching the fight around her. She was proud of her troops as she watched them take on the Avatar's gang and that they were able to hold their own and didn't have to run away in fear or defeat when faced with these extremely powerful opponents. She couldn't help admire her adversaries' strength either, each masters in whatever they fought with, whether it was bending or like the older Water tribe peasant, swordsmanship. He watched as his blade danced with Shang's a confident smile on each of their faces, they seemed to be having fun yelling mocking comments at each other when one of the other gained the upper hand. Despite her confidence in her Lieutenant General, Shang was in a dead stalemate with the Water Tribe warrior. She then gazed at the other member from the Water Tribe, an obvious master of her element as she bent the water with deadly accuracy, creating a screen of steam around her and her opponents as they retaliated with their own Firebending. She also watched the Avatar and the blind Earthbender fight some more of her troops. Her elite troops were well-matched against these young fighters. '_It will be an interesting fight…' _Her focus was brought back to her scar-faced enemy as he swung his leg up to make contact with her face; she with her speed easily dodged the last attack and continued to fight with the Fire Prince. She then noticed that he was distracted. Although his gaze was focused on her, it was no longer determined but, Kya thought disbelieving, _appreciating, _the way men had started to stare at her recently, particularly when she didn't wear her uniform. She did not deny to herself that people thought she was beautiful, but she just cast it as the fact that she held a foreign look compared to the black-haired, golden-eyed, pale women of her country, that it was just something new to them, she never thought she was beautiful, just different. '_Looks like Prince Zuko doesn't agree,' _a voice in the back of her head said, smirking. _'He's not half-bad looking either,' _the voice continued, _'I mean, despite the scar he's quite handsome.' _Unfortunately, Kya couldn't completely disagree this time as it voiced its opinion on Zuko's looks. No longer was he that innocently cute boy from the Palace, but a strong mature…man. Again she tried to shake herself of these, for her, upsetting thoughts, and took advantage of Zuko's lapse of focus and she brought her leg down, foot jamming on his knee joint. With a satisfying crack from his leg the Firebender stumbled. She charged again and began to take advantage of his fumbled but Zuko still was able to parry her attacks although his offense was now weaker, inhibited by his leg. Eventually, after some moments she decided that simple contact-fighting was not the way to go with this particular opponent. Channeling all her anger on her former friend she sent a wave of fire at him, causing him to try to block it and collapse to the ground. She moved to present a fatal blow to her fallen challenger but was soon flung feet away by a rock that hurtled at her from the Avatar. She heard his young, yet seemingly wise voice call out to his comrades:

"This is going nowhere; we got to get out of here."

It a rush of action she watched as tried painfully to get up, but pain emanated throughout her whole body from where the rock had hit her in the side. The Avatar pulled Mai and Ty-lee to there feet and the trio hurried into the forest, soon followed by the Water-tribe siblings and the Earthbender who had been lifted into the arms of the Water Tribe boy. Only Zuko remained, but he was nowhere insight. Finally, she spotted him limping, away to the other end of the campsite which was left open when the rebels took off in the opposite direction. She grunted in pain as she lifted herself off the ground in urgency and took off after the Firebender. _'He won't get away!' _

_--_

Zuko ran as fast as he could with his damaged leg, weaving around tents and scattered belongings of the troops. He was at the edge of the campsite when something to his side caught his eye. It was a pile of blasting jelly barrels. His mind again slowed time as he watched as a blazing tent fell, catching the barrels on fire. He paled with dread. '_This is it, all my hard work for nothing...my life gone before I could truly prove my worth._' As he watched as the barrels burnt through, an explosion erupting from their contents he felt small, but strong hands push him hard out of the way of the impending danger. He watched in horror as Kya was consumed in the explosion.

--

Kya watched as the barrels of blasting jelly burst into flame. Zuko would never make it out of the explosion, despite his pace; his leg would be the death of him. 'It's your fault then…' the voice in the back of her mind said angrily, 'you're going to kill Zuko…' A part of her was evilly delighted in getting rid of him, finally getting revenge for what he did to her but a larger part of her, her conscious, couldn't stand to see him dead. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own as it took off toward the endangered prince, adrenaline coursing through her veins allowing her to ignore the searing pain in her ribs. With speed she didn't realize she had she reached the limping boy and pushed him out of the way of the imminent explosion. Unfortunately, she still remained in its range and watched as the explosion blow up around her. Quickly thinking she created a ball of fire around her. The pressure from the explosion still sent her flinging into the forest, the explosions flames licking every part of her skin. The pain was too great and soon she lost herself to the darkness.

Zuko closed his eyes in pain as he watched the raging flames from the explosion envelope Kya, most likely burning her to a crisp. She had tried to save him, opening his fact that it was still Kya, his, as much as he tried to deny it, only childhood friend. Grieve filled his entire body and he felt hot tears roll down his cheeks. He remained sitting for a few moments, but then forced himself to get up. With a gasp of pain he started limping to where he remembered they had put Appa. It didn't seem like he had been walking for very long when he was attacked by a flying monk.

"Zuko! We were so worried, we thought you had gotten hurt, or worse caught."

"Caught, no. Hurt, yes," he replied shortly giving a pointed nod down to his knee. "Where's Katara?"

"She's over by that stream, healing Sokka. He got a nasty cut from that Shang guy." He approached Zuko, allowing the teen to lean against him to get the weight off his bad knee. "Come on let's see what Katara can do for you."

--

Zuko and Aang finally reached the stream, but before even stepping into the clearing Toph alerted the remaining members of the group to their presence.

"It's Sparky and Twinkle-toes. Looks like Sparky's hurt his knee."

Katara made a move from where she was nursing a cut on Sokka's arm, a glowing orb of water surrounding the area, but a girl in grubby prison clothing and pale skin reached the pair first, flinging her arms around Zuko.

"Zuko!" she cried, although her voice retained most of its monotone. Zuko quickly ended the embrace to look on the face of the girl he had abandoned at the Boiling Rock. Surprisingly her eyes seemed to be brimming with…tears. "Are you alright?" she voiced, interrupting his thoughts.

He grunted, "Kya hit me in the leg, I think she broke something…"

"Bring him over here," the Waterbending Master ordered. Mai and Aang, now sharing Zuko's weight lugged him over to the river's edge, Katara placing a water-gloved hand on his knee. Soon enough the water started glowing. "She definitely, broke your knee cap. Good. It'll take sometime to heal. I've never healed bones before…You might have some trouble walking.

Zuko moaned inwardly but voiced his issue, "How am I supposed to train Aang."

"I guess he'll just have to take a break for a couple of weeks…or practice what he knows."

"He doesn't have a couple weeks. The comet comes in less than a month!" he said his voice rising. He shook his head angrily staring pensively in the water, "Seems like the general knew what would do the most damage, for all of us…" Despite himself, he couldn't blame her…this was his fault. Always his fault. His gaze on the water continued for some moments before he began to stare absently out into the shadows, the group giving him his space, except for Katara who was healing his bruises but she too remained silent. Soon his eyes grew wide looking out to the other side of the clearing. "Oh my god! Kya!" He lifted himself quickly, ignoring the pain and rushed across the stream to where indeed the Fire Nation general was buried under branches and dirt. He covered his mouth in shock. Her entire body, what he could see of it, was covered in horrendous, painful-looking burns; her hair still smoldering, or what was left of it. She was surprisingly still clothed, the metal still in tact but when he reached for it as the metal was still burning hot. He scrambled to get the hot metal off, quickly undressing her leaving her completely exposed except for some patches of burnt cloth the left little to the imagination. He couldn't help but blush as he looked at her mostly naked form. Finally the gang had rushed over to her. Katara shouting to get the brambles off her and get her into the water. Sokka came around Zuko lifting the girl into his arms. A girl that now looked frail and dead, all because of him, because she had to save him, like she always had. He watched as Sokka carried the girl to the stream, his eyes kept straight ahead, but a blush still shown on his face. He laid her in the dark water. Zuko watched as the dark water glowed around her, despite her unconscious state and started working on the burns she had received from the explosion black substance washed from her hair which he soon recognized as dye from the smell. After awhile the glowing stopped and Sokka pulled her out of the water, laying his shirt over her nude form, covering her most feminine aspects.

"Her burns will have to be tended to a bit more, but I think they can be healed leaving little or no scarring." Katara said, breaking the silence again.

"Well that's wonderful…So let's get going so she can have one of her own medics get over here and tend to her wounds." He got up to go, but the others glared at him and he sat back down with a huff.

"We can't just leave her here," said a soft voice from behind. It was Ty-lee.

"She's right," Zuko said. "She saved me. If it wouldn't have been for her then I would have been the one that was in that explosion, not her. You're probably better than any healer in the Fire Nation, Katara. And the punishment she would receive for losing the Avatar wouldn't be so great for her health either."

"She won't like this. Kya's always been a nationalist; she won't step over to this side so easily. Mai murmured.

Zuko couldn't help but agree. "If we take care of her at the Western Air Temple, she can't leave otherwise she'd give away our position to the Fire Nation. "We'll just have to make her our prisoner."

"She'll escape," his girlfriend replied shortly.

Zuko looked at her burnt and damaged form. "Not for awhile…"

Aang finally voiced his opinion, "It's settled then, we'll take her too the Temple…"

The others, minus the Fire Nation citizens finally nodded reluctantly in agreement.

"Besides maybe we can convince her to change sides."

Zuko hoped the Avatar was right.

--

Appa was soon loaded up, now the weight of three more straining him as he heaved into the sky.

Little did they know they were being watched.

--

"What's a matter Lieutenant Shang." A timid solider asked, noticing his leader's return.

"The Avatar has kidnapped General Kya. I want hawks sent out to the armies to be on high alert for that group of vermin. Shang looked into the sky, determination and vengeance shining in his eyes. "I will find you Kya," he murmured.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- Watched the series finale tonight…WOWOMFGITWASTHEMOSTAMAZINGTHISIHAVEEVERSEEN!!...until those last 30 seconds with the Kataang kiss. It literally tore me and my friends apart; there was a lot of scream, even for the tears shed for that atomic bomb that sunk the Zutara ship. Also, why couldn't we acknowledge the Tokka, even one-sided, that's all we get, a stupid blush in "Sokka's Master." Grrr….But anyway, just wanted to say that I love Avatar, so I thought I'd give you an update before I leave for a cruel week of soccer camp…And I spent writing this chapter until about 2:00 a.m…I only got done with the flashback sequence, so I couldn't give you an update before camp…eh**

**Also, the flashback takes place when Zuko and Kya are 10, but right before Ozai becomes Firelord. I'm just assuming Zuko was around ten at the time. Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'll go back and change it.**

**Also, for the fact that in this past week the show ruined my story line, let's just say that they never went to Zuko's house on Ember Island to hide, although they did go to the play. Note joke in first chapter**

**Also…Yeah I know I should shut up…this was a pain to write. Seriously, I wrote the flashback and I was like alright that was awesome, then when I got to the real time scenes I've been literally stuck; which is why it took so longer to update. Just thought I'd let you know**

--

"_I swear I didn't do it!" the voice of Kya's 10-year-old self cried, looking up into her punishers eyes, although mostly concealed by a mask. "Please, don't hurt me. I'll be good."_

"_You tried to kill Fire Prince Zuko. You're lucky you won't be killed you treacherous wench," the man fired back with a deep rough voice._

_Kya looked around to the faces of all the generals and nobles surrounding the floor of her trial room, her eyes settling on a man with short black, hair, his general formal robe glistening in the torches' light. He was tall, his clothing doing nothing to conceal the muscles underneath, and his features were sharp, his almost hawk-like, golden eyes studying her as well. She looked down at herself, her puny, tan, blue-eyed, brown-haired self: she looked nothing like her father. _

"_Does anyone have anything to say for the convicted, anything to say in favor for her case," the judge's voice droned. "Maybe from her father?" Moments passed, she looked to her father with hopeful eyes, he said nothing, there was not even a hint of concern on his face, and honestly he looked like he just wanted to get out of the room. "Alright then, we then find the plaintiff gui–"_

"_Wait" a distinctively feminine voice rang out. Kya whipped her head around to see Fire Prince Ozai's wife, Ursa walk into the room. Behind her was an oddly pleased-looking Azula, and Zuko who had his face turned, avoiding her scrutinizing gaze, making it entirely impossible to read his expression. "We must remember now that this girl, although her crime is very mature, is of course, only a girl, a child, she doesn't deserve the harsh punishment you have been planning to inflict. Just because she tried to…hurt my son," she paused to glare at the girl, causing a pang of hurt to run through Kya, obviously she wasn't off the hook, not even with the woman she cared so much about, that was like a mother to her, '_It's obvious that she's not your mother,' a cruel, mocking voice echoed inside her mind, 'you have no mother…' _Kya was subdued by the thought and looked away from Ursa's harsh stare, promising herself she wouldn't cry. "There must be some explanation to why this happened and I think it has something to do with her Waterbending; my son agrees that she might have lost control of her power; he had been teasing her, you see." She paused to smile weakly at the procession. "Of course, she's too dangerous to have in the palace, but my husband and I both agree that there may be some use for her on the battlefield, that she could be used as an advantage against the Water Tribes once she learns to control her abilities. Take a moment to think about it: one of their kind acting as a spy for us, able to infiltrate their cities and when the time is right, strike them unexpectedly. Her outburst yesterday proved that she is a prodigy in her skill…It is not that we don't feel that this crime should go unnoticed, but I don't want to waste what she can offer." She fell silent and the jury began to murmur amongst themselves. She tried to give a grateful smile to Ursa but the women's face remained stony, avoiding her eyes. _

"_We the jury agrees that the Water Tribe girl will receive a milder punishment for her crime against the Fire Nation. Afterward she will be sent directly to the Fire Nation Army Military Academy where she will undergo intense training in her bending and other necessary skills so that she is ready to go to the barracks and fight for the Fire Nation…We shall punish the girl now and then case dismissed." _

_Kya sighed with relief, she could stand fighting for the military, it might be fun, Azula was always practicing fighting with her, using her more as a dummy than an actual opponent but maybe if she would see the girl again she could actual give her a run for a money. She looked to Azula who had an evil sneer on her face, _'Maybe not.'

_Suddenly Kya was pulled to her feet and quickly pulled to the center of the room. The guards on her arms pushed her down onto her knees, tearing the back of her shirt open. Color drained for her face, finally realizing that the lesser punishment wasn't going to be as easy as a slap on the wrist. A cold looking soldier crossed the room, he stopped abrubtly behind Kya, waving his arm so that a flaming whip emerged from it. In a quick motion he rose it up into the sky. Kya couldn't help the tears that fell as she watched as he began to lower it down. She screamed as the whip tore into her back, hot blood pouring down from the wound. She watched as he rose his arm up again._

"_One." the judged said monotonously._

_He brought it down again._

"_Two." _

_And again._

"_Three." _

_And again._

"_Four."_

_And again._

"_Five…"_

--

Kya's eyes snapped open but she had to close them again as they were assaulted by a blinding white light, it took her moments to realize that it was the sun shining brightly into the small room she was in. She shook her head to get her screams out of her mind and wiped the sheen of sweat from her face. Her eyes fluttered closed again and she began breathing deeply regaining her composure then opened them to observe her surroundings. The room was entirely stone, the only furniture seemed to be the bed that she lay on and a small chair in the corner. Nothing about the Spartan look of the room gave her any idea of where she was located. She made a move to sit up but was met by an onslaught of pain and she was forced to lie back down clutching her obviously broken ribs. Fire raged in front of her eyes and she suddenly remembered, _'the explosion!' _She looked up and down the rest of her body for any major injuries, but it seemed that any burns she had received seemed to have magically disappeared only leaving a few cuts and bruises to ruin her otherwise perfectly healthy skin. '_What happened?' _she wondered, moving to rub her temples, trying to remember any details from what happened after the explosion. All she could remember was blazing heat and darkness, '_how long was I out?' _At that instant she realized the chains that were tightly bound on her wrists and ankles, shackling her to the bed. Panicked, she started struggling against the foul contraptions but again the pain from her ribs kept her from escaping.

"Oh good you're awake," said a familiar voice behind her.

Kya turned to see the blind Earthbender leaning casually against the door frame. She had a slight smirk on her face, despite her lack of sight, obviously sensing that she was in pain. "I wouldn't move too much if I was you. Katara hasn't been able to heal your ribs yet."

Toph waited for the girl to speak, ask a question, but she remained silent; although she could feel her heart pounding with anxiety and panic.

"You've been out for about a week," she continued, answering some of internal questions. "You're chained up because; the gang wants to be cautious. Even after you're healed we can't trust you to leave without revealing our location."

There was another bout of silence, but then Kya figured it wouldn't do her any good keeping silent. "I'm your prisoner, then," she stated, her voice sounding foreign, dry in her ears.

"Well, basically," the Earthbender said with a grin. "So, you hungry?"

Kya blinked, she couldn't understand this girl's bluntness, or that even though she had just been made the prisoner of said girl, Toph was being…almost friendly. She shook her head in refusal, but on queue her stomach growled in protest.

Toph smirked, "Something tells me you are. I'll have Katara bring you something at your next healing session. I'll be seeing you." With that, the blind girl turned on her heels and was gone, closing the door with a slam that was quite appropriate to her character.

Kya flinched at the noise of the shutting, she stared blankly at the cracks in the stone ceiling, and the small patches of vegetation that had managed to grow, using the sunlight from the window to flourish in the otherwise dark room. She breathed slowly, sitting in the silence she created, listening to the hum of birds and bugs outside her lonely prison. She was trying to take in all that happened: She obviously had saved Zuko, surprisingly had lived and now as '_thanks' _they were healing her. Kya might have been thankful except for the fact that she was now chained to a bed, forever going to be the prisoner of this motley crew. She blew a line of fire from her mouth, her nostrils steaming, _'You are so stupid!' _she shouted at herself, _'Of course this is what you get for trying to be nice, which by the way, I can't seem to understand why I did it; this is how you're repaid. This is what you get for dealing with Zuko, you got burned…literally.'_

_--_

Toph walked silently back up to the main hall, stopping in mid-stride. "She's doing fine, Zuko," she said to no one.

"Did she say anything about me?" Zuko asked emerging from behind a large stone pillar.

"No. Why do you ask?" Toph retorted, her eyebrow arching in question.

Zuko blushed at the tone of her voice, embarrassed at what his question could have meant. "N-no reason," he stammered, for once glad the Earthbender was blind, "Just is she angry with me?"

Toph laughed, "Well we did imprison her after she saved your life, so yeah, she's probably a bit angry." Hearing Zuko's audible sigh, she gave one of her own, trying to console the Firebender, "But I bet she's angry with all of us right now, not just you. Besides, when I talked to her, she just seems a little stunned, she didn't speak much."

Zuko nodded, "Yeah," he murmured distantly.

Toph shook her head at the hopeless boy in front of her, "Look I know that you're worried because of whatever happened between you two in the past." Zuko looked up; he was still always surprised at the girl's ability to read him. "But, something tells me that she still cares about you, I mean she did save her life. I have a feeling that she's not as stone cold as she lets on. It might take some time, but I think that she might come around. You can be friends or whatever you two were again."

Zuko nodded again, "Maybe." The two then walked silently back up to where the others were camped, Zuko's eyes shining with doubt. Despite Toph's comforting words, he doubted that Kya would ever forgive him. Her screams rattled his brains again, the memory of the whip coming down on her back forever seared into his memory. _'It's all my fault.' _

_--_

Kya had been sitting there for what felt like an eternity when a blue-clad figure walked in. Immediately Kya recognized the Water Tribe girl…_peasant_, Katara. She was balancing a tray of food in one hand and a bowl of water in the other. When their blue eyes met, Katara gave a small smile. In response, Kya's frown etched a deeper line into her forehead, _'Why was everyone being so damn nice?' _With the lack of response from the older Waterbender, Katara's smile faded and she sneered. "You must be hungry," she said, her voice deep with malice. _'Finally. This is a feeling I can understand.' _"You haven't eaten solid food for the last week," she continued.

"Why do you care?" she asked, her tone matching Katara's. "Why don't you let me starve to death, stop healing me; you wouldn't have to worry about me exposing your group."

Katara laughed coldly, "Honestly, that would probably be the best for us. And honestly I really didn't care whether you would live or not" Her gaze on the Fire Nation General was dark, anger obviously seething underneath those hard blue eyes, but after a beat she sighed deeply, the anger seemingly dissipating with it. "But, you saved Zuko, my friend…all of ours. For that we're grateful." Katara was silent for a minute and reached to help Kya sit up when she was interrupted by a manic laugh from the Fire Nation girl.

Kya couldn't even help the laugh; everything was so absurd at the moment. She was captured, by the Avatar no less, and they wanted to help her because they saved Zuko, their _friend_. It wasn't the fact that Zuko had friends that was causing her body to shake with mocking laughter, but the irony of whom he decided to become friends with. It just didn't make sense. Particularly the Waterbender who asserted their friendship, it just didn't seem like Zuko could be friends with someone who was from such a primitive state as the Water Tribes; especially after what he had done to her; because she was a Waterbender. She had heard many a story about Zuko's chase of the young Airbender along with his distaste for all that he stood for. Zuko had more pride for his nation probably than she did and he was always fixed on honor and being a prince; going behind his father's back didn't seem honorable, not at all. There had to be some other reason he was here, seemingly betraying his nation. Kya voiced her opinion on the matter, rather cruelly to the young Waterbender:

"Your friend, ha!" she smirked, "Don't make me laugh. Zuko couldn't actually be friends with you," she sneered, punctuating her final words. "You all are probably just little pawns in his plan to get on Daddy's good graces, to capture the Avatar without even bothering to lift a finger, leading you all to your demise!" She was breathing heavily now, the anger coursing through her veins, taking control of her next words, "he would never be friends with a filthy Water Tribe _peasant_, like you." Expecting this to have gotten a rise out of the girl she was stunned when the girl responded quietly: "Lay back so I can have a better angle to heal your ribs; then you can eat."

Kya could have burned herself she was in such a state of rage. She simply couldn't understand these people and she _hated_ when she couldn't read people, bend them to her will. It made her feel powerless. Looking down the wrappings that covered around her chest and rib cage, left her toned stomach bare and twirled around her lower section and she supposed she was indeed powerless, . This thought was the only strong enough to subdue her so that she laid flat on her back and suddenly the cool glowing glove of water on her broken ribs allowed her to bring her body temperature back to normal.

"Funny," Katara said, breaking the silence, "that you should say that. That I could never be friends with Zuko because I'm from the Water Tribe…I mean he was friends with you and you're from the Water Tribe."

Kya lunged at the girl, straining against the chains, "I am not from that wretched place," she spat. The pain on her ribs was too great for her to continue and she flopped back down onto the mattress.

"Again that's funny," she said placing her healing hands once again over Kya's ribs, "because you look like you should be."

This time Kya couldn't deny the claim. She had to hand it to the peasant; she knew which buttons to push. Seeing the futility of her efforts she figured that she should stop fighting with her healer, "my mother was from the Southern Water Tribe; my father," she paused, finding the phrase difficult to say, "was a Fire Nation General, he retired a couple years back. But I was born in the Fire Nation, lived there all my life," she murmured quietly, turning her head away from the girl.

Katara perked up, and although Kya couldn't see it, she was pleased that the Fire Nation girl was trying to make conversation. "The Southern Tribe, huh? I've lived there all my life, you think I might know her?"

Kya shook her head, "No, she was taken in a Fire Nation raid, probably before you were old enough to remember. That's when she met _my father._" The pause when Kya talked about her father did not go unnoticed by the master Waterbender but she did not question it, although curiosity was eating at her. She knew that Kya was part of Zuko's dark past from his restraint and nervousness whenever she was mentioned, only giving tidbits of information on the girl, but nothing truly to get an actual understanding of the Water/Firebender before her. Katara looked down at the girl, waiting for her to continue but she appeared to withdraw again, not wanting to give out the information but she respected the girl's wishes. At least she now knew why the girl could bend the two elements, obviously not being the Avatar. It wasn't uncommon, particularly now with Fire Nation colonials and Earth Kingdom residents to be living in close quarters to marry and have children; but usually they only took either of the parents' bending or none at all. Kya was special, that much she could tell. They sat in silence for some time before Katara figured she should share some information with the girl, to even the playing field and maybe get her to open up again.

"My mother was taken in a Fire Nation raid too," she said sadly although now the tears didn't fall. "She was taken for trying to protect the last Waterbender, me; she saved my life." She gazed absently outside the window, shadows growing with the time as the sun rose further into the sky. Again the pair didn't speak for minutes before Kya finally responded:

"I'm sorry. About you're mom," she paused as the girl's shining blue eyes met hers, a pang of sympathy rising in her chest, "But you're lucky, in a way. I don't think I know of anyone who would have put their life in danger for mine," her tone became steely and Katara figured that Kya's mind had once again shifted to her father and, sadly, Zuko.

Katara was silent, lifting her hands from Kya's ribs, indicating that the healing session was finished. She watched as Kya lifted herself, feeling the afflicted area with gentle, "I don't think they're fully healed, but they're definitely not broken anymore; the pain is a lot less…painful," she stated and finally lifted her head enough to reach Katara's eyes, and she noticed something flash behind them for a second but then disappeared, her eyes assuming their dark blue gaze, reminding Katara of a stormy ocean. "Thanks," she said, so quietly, Katara had barely heard. It must have taken her a lot, the Water Tribe girl realized to admit defeat and thank her; she laughed inwardly, '_She's almost as proud as Zuko.'_

"You're welcome," she said with a small smile. They sat their in awkward silence until Katara got up and turned for the door. But she stopped in mid-stride and turned back, "Zuko's changed, you know. He's been really concerned about you. Honestly, he's been the one helping the most with taking care of you," she said with a slight laugh. After a beat she spoke again, "I know that something happened to you two in the past; something that has to do with the scars on your back and why you scream at night," Kya went visibly rigid, she had forgotten how Katara must have seen the scars "but I really think he might surprise you now." She paused again, "And I know that some scars remain visible, marks of our past; but sometimes they can fade too…they just need a little healing time." She again began heading for the door, "you'll probably want to heat up your food with Firebending," she said lightly, "but I wouldn't try anything else. You're not fully healed and even if you could escape there are four master benders along with a massive convict, a bomb special, an Earthbender, a crazy little kid and three warriors waiting just on the outside of this room. I know you're tough but I don't think you could take us all on," she grinned and left.

Kya couldn't help but grin as well; the Waterbender's smiles were contagious. She was grateful for this member of the Avatar's gang; who seemed to know how to talk to her and to know when to change the subject, like she had just now. But even with this fact Kya couldn't ignore the pounding in her chest at the statements she had previously made:

_"He's been really concerned about you. Honestly, he's been the one helping the most with taking care of you… but sometimes they can fade too…they just need a little healing time."_

Her words echoed in Kya's ears as she chewed on the now cold meal in front of her.

--

And so it is done, HAHA! Took me long enough. Well, so begins the Katara/Kya friendship. It was really between Katara, Toph, and Aang in who would have the first friendship with Kya but I think the contrast and similarities between Katara and Kya, whom by the way I didn't know shared the same name with Katara's mother; just it was a former name for Katara they had used in the pilot; but still. More to come!!

As always…R&R

-Ktsvillefan


	6. Chapter 6

Hello again! Sorry this chapter took so long to get out…I was overcome by writer's block and I couldn't sit down and write. Also, I had no inspiration from my favorite fanfics as it seems with the summer months updating has slowed considerably. I am a prime example of that. blush Also, I realized that I should have had more build-up to a Kya/Katara relationship; maybe had her injured longer, I don't know; but you'll probably see the repercussions of that in this chapter of me finding a way to keep Kya 'angsty' because I don't think that would have lasted if this relationship with Kya and Katara kept up and we all love our angst here on Avatar…so without further ado…the sixth chapter of Scars Sometimes Fade.

**READ THIS:**

Oh! I also wanted to ask anyone if they wanted to do art for these as I posted the story up on and I wanted for each chapter to have some kind of picture with it. Kind of like how Harry Potter has something at the beginning of each chapter. If anyone is interested could they email me a sample drawing, one of Kya would be best; I want to see how you guys think she looks like, but if you want help, I can definitely give you some ideas.

--

The next four days past uneventfully for Kya, her life now following a very strict schedule: Wake up with the rising sun as she always did; wait for everyone else above to wake up, listen to them grumble about the morning and the Avatar about his training as they did sp; wait for Katara for food and a healing session; receive said food and healing session; spend the rest of the day changed to her bedroom alone although sometimes joined by the company of Toph or Katara; lunch; more alone time and then finally dinner with a complementary healing session and then eventually drifting off to sleep in her boredom. To say the least, uneventful put it lightly. _'My current state of boredom is unfathomable…so unfathomable that I have used to the word unfathomable to describe this fathomless boredom.' _Kya let out an audible sigh, astounded by the incredible genius of the Avatar and his friends. Boredom was the ultimate torture, it seemed and if she ever got out of this god-forsaken place she would inform all of the Fire Nation prisons to install this method. Honestly, in any interrogation the questioned would be singing right now if they were put into the same situation Kya was in right now. She couldn't eat, talk to anyone or even move without the allowance of her captors when they came to visit her which was hardly a regular thing and she was practically begging for conversation when Katara came to heal her and would take any of Toph's quips for just the simplicity of the interaction made the day less mind-numbing. She figured this was the way they thought she would change sides that she would slowly become friends with the Waterbender during their healing sessions. It scared her as she watched the sun lower in the sky how her heart would leap with excitement at the prospect of dinner and the chance to talk to someone. There method was all but working, but she couldn't deny that Katara was actually someone she enjoyed talking to, someone, in her past she wouldn't have hesitated to befriend.

In no less than an hour's time (a time which Kya spent counting the cracks in the ceiling, again) the younger Waterbender dressed in her regular blue attire entered the room carrying a plate of warm rice and veggies and a steaming cup of tea. Kya's stomach roared as the smell wafted into her nostrils, her mouth also watering in response.

"I see someone's hungry," Katara said giggling as she placed the tray in front of Kya who quickly sat up and began shoveling food, rather ungainly, into her mouth. She heard Kya mumbled something that sounded like, 'Shut up,' in between mouthfuls which caused Katara to laugh again. "So I guess you're getting better then. I mean your appetite has obviously returned," Katara voiced earning her a stuffed cheek glare from the girl on the bed, "and you were able to sit up on your own faster, which you couldn't do as well yesterday…"

Kya swallowed, "I feel better, still weak though," she murmured pensively.

Katara nodded, "You want to try walking again?" The pained expression on the girl's face gave her her answer. The other day she had convinced Kya to try walking and although she had thought she had healed the mostly shattered bones in her right leg, apparently there was a fracture that she had missed and the pain from when the Fire Nation girl had put her weight on the leg was enough to send her to the floor, throwing up her meal in the process. She had spent the next day sick in bed, the thought of food disgusting her, and the lack of nutrients had caused the girl to be even weaker these past couple days. Kya had regained her appetite again but was still obviously unsure of her strength. She frowned, that general desire to help people consuming her. "Well, I mean you can't just sit here all the time," she tried, "you have to try to get your strength back and walking is the baby step to do so. I'll support you on your right leg so it shouldn't be so painful this time. I mean, the fracture is mostly healed and we have it wrapped up. It shouldn't give you too much trouble."

She was answered by audible silence from Kya who knew the Waterbender's words were true but couldn't deny that she was afraid of the imminent pain she knew would come from trying to walk. She also saw the incredulity in the situation, before Katara had had to help her, because she was dying and Zuko had made her for whatever reason but now Katara was generally offering to help, simply to be nice. She was scared of the girl's compassion. Compassion wasn't new to her she just hadn't been shown any in a very long time. Kya let out an audible sigh, exasperated with herself. _'I shouldn't be sitting here, sorry for myself, I should be trying to get better so I can get out of this place. I should try to get better even if it means being helped by Kat– I mean that…_filthy Water Tribe Peasant_.' _ Now determined, remembering who she was she met Katara's gaze. "Fine," she said, "I'll do it. But I want to try on my own first." Katara made a move to protest but Kya spat, "I don't need your help. I can do it on my own," and she was silenced even though Kya was unsure if her words held any strength at this point.

Katara, still confused by Kya's sudden hostility, agreed. "Alright. That's fair, but I still want to do your healing session and for you to finish eating before we try."

Kya nodded and returned to her rice, picking up the chopsticks with delicate fingers now, eating the rice now slowly, and trying to stall the walking. Katara sighed and then sat down on the side of the bed, working on her legs, the glowing blue water searching for any sign of abnormality. All she could find was an extremely broken girl, and it wasn't the bones she was talking about.

--

Toph was lying on her back near the campfire, her sightless green eyes unfocusedly cast to the stone ceiling above her. Her small lips turned down into a frown as she felt Katara approach the group, along with a pair of unfamiliar light footsteps that must be Kya's. Her frown increased as she felt the weight distribution between them in their next steps, Katara was supporting most of Kya's weight on her left side it seemed, trying to keep the weight off the girl's bad right side. It wasn't the fact that Katara was helping Kya, as Katara was the queen of being helpful, that troubled her, and it was the reaction of her friends that made her agitated. She didn't care whether the Fire Nation general was once bad or not, she had a feeling that like Zuko, Mai, and Ty-lee that she could become part of the team despite her heritage. Of course the others disagreed; in fact ever since she got here the group has been down, particularly Zuko who would freak out and get all broody every time Kya's name was mentioned. She assumed the others just saw her as a burden and nothing more. She doubted that Katara having to help the girl do something as simple as walking would only support their argument. Finally, Katara was reaching the campfire and the room got oddly still. Zuko's heart rate quickened and she felt him shift nervously in place. The others, she felt, were also nervous but they kept their cool all with fixed glares at the Fire Nation citizen, but that Toph didn't realize. The only one who wasn't being bent out of shape by Kya's presence was Ty-lee who jumped up to greet her old friend:

"Hey Kya!" she called cheerfully, "I see you're finally well enough to walk. That's great! She bounced over and gave the girl a hug.

--

Kya stiffened with shock as the girl in pink wrapped her arms around her. She couldn't believe Ty-lee, acting like there had been no problems in their past friendship…if you could call it that. She hadn't even come to see her when she was stuck in bed, some friend. Kya didn't say anything as Ty-lee released her, looking up at her with curiosity, trying to read her emotions. As if the glare that threatened to burn a hole through the acrobat's stupid pink outfit wasn't enough.

"Kya's probably not ready to walk on her own yet, but maybe if we get her a staff, or walking stick like you, Aang she could do it without giving me a workout," she said, breaking the silence with a weak laugh. She was met by further silence from the group, whose angry eyes bore down on Kya almost making her flush, almost. She took a deep breath, gaining composure, but she had to admit that the group's animosity made her nervous. She had saved Zuko's life so she assumed they'd at least be grateful. But apparently, lifesaving doesn't induce friendship these days. After a few more moments of shattering silence she decided she didn't want to be here, she turned to Katara:

"Can I go practice somewhere else?" she asked, her voice sounding uncharacteristically timid.

Katara nodded sympathetically, and made to support her weight again but Kya waved a hand for her to stop, "Alone. You said I could try to walk on my own." Seeing Katara's skeptical look for just a few moments ago on her first attempt to walk alone she had fallen down in pain she offered, "I can use a walking stick or something."

"Where are you going to find one of those, hop on one leg into the forest?" Mai said her normal bored monotone slightly hostile.

"It was just a suggestion," Kya fired back, her voice and temper rising. Hers was a friendship she was glad to have burned.

"Kya, calm down," Katara said softly.

"I am calm!" she shouted turning on Katara, her blue eyes flashing. She whipped back to Mai, "I don't get what your problem is. If it wasn't for me, your precious boyfriend there," she said nudging her head in Zuko's direction "would be burnt to a crisp right now. And if I'm right I save a guy who's a pretty good friend and teacher to the rest of you so you can stop glaring and maybe say thanks!" she yelled her voice getting steadily higher.

"I don't think someone who works for the most evil man on earth deserves a thank you," a tan, mustached teenage spoke, glaring daggers at Kya. "Besides if it wasn't for us, you'd be dead. I think you should be thanking us for healing you despite what you are."

"No, if it wasn't for Katara, Mustache-boy, I'd be dead; I don't have anything to say to you."

"Well I–" Haru started Sokka and the Duke standing to defend their friend before Zuko interrupted, silencing the group.

"Shut up, all of you! All she wants to do is practice walking is that such a bad thing; she's not out to get any of you and she's right, she does deserve our thanks." He turned to her, his face etched with nervousness, gold eyes glinting in the fire light, "So thanks," he said quietly, ducking his head. "Aang, why don't you let her borrow your staff? At least until I can find her a proper walking stick. She can go practice in the lower halls, away from us. Does that appease everyone?" He was met with a surrendered silence and Aang tossing his staff to the girl. Satisfied he sat down, staring at the fire, avoiding eye contact with a particular blue-eyed Firebender.

"Alone? What if she tries to escape?" questioned Sokka.

"I don't think she's going anywhere too fast, Sokka," Toph said, rolling her eyes, "Besides I'll feel her with my Earth-bending if she tries to do anything sneaky."

"And I'll go with her," Aang added. The others looked at him incredulously. "I don't want her damaging my staff," he said with a shrug. He looked to Kya, "Ready to go?"

She stared at him, confused for a moment, and then nodding, at least she'd be away from the others. She pushed herself off Katara and using the staff started limping away toward the lower chambers, Aang a few footsteps behind, ready to catch her if she began to fall.

"I don't see why you guys are being so nice," Sokka said, leaning back, "I mean, saving someone's life doesn't mean she's not a bad person."

"Shut up, Sokka," Zuko muttered before getting up, "I'm going for a walk," he said turning on his heels to go.

"Want me to come with you?" Mai asked softly, her eyes flashing with concern despite the rest of her straight face.

He turned to look back at her. It was true that the couple hadn't really gotten any _alone time_, since she arrived at the Western Air Temple. He always enjoyed her company but after her snide remark to Kya he honestly wanted nothing to do with her. "I'd rather be alone right now, thanks," he retorted sharply and then took off into the darkness.

--

Zuko couldn't understand why he was so angry but I guess he had set his hopes to high when in came to his friends' reactions toward the new addition to the group. They had accepted Mai and Ty-lee well enough despite all of their past conflicts with the group; in fact Suki and Ty-lee in particular had developed a friendship with the acrobat teaching the Kyoshi warrior to block Chi in exchange for being taught how to use a fan as a weapon. Mai had joined in that particular lesson as well so she was on fairly good terms with the female warrior and thus her boyfriend, Sokka. The others seemed to care more or less about their presence. He couldn't understand why they were so angry at a girl they met only a week or so ago. Her reception from the gang was much like when he joined the group, minus Katara who seemed to show a little compassion towards Kya and like Zuko believed that she wasn't all bad, so he had hoped that as they did with him they would eventually let her become part of the group. Now seeing Kya's equal animosity toward his friends he wasn't so sure it would be that easy. With a sigh, he continued his aimless walking until his ears pricked to the sound of Aang's chipper voice.

"So Katara told me that you're mother was a Waterbender and your father was a Firebender and that's why you can bend both."

Zuko approached the lower courtyard of the temple where he made out Kya's form limping slowly back and forth across the stone surface. The only light was from Aang who had a tiny flame burning in his hand as he walked back and forth with Kya.

"I suppose so," he heard her say after a beat. Her voice sounded exasperated, obviously giving into the Avatar to join into the conversation. He smirked at the thought of Aang pressing her with questions that she had ignored until then. He sat on a ledge and watched the two; listening to their conversation.

"Well. It's pretty amazing, I've never heard of that happening before."

"Amazing?" Kya said with a weak laugh, "More like freakish…" Zuko detected a hint of sadness in the girl's voice, the strange shame in her power.

Aang paused for a few moments, obviously thinking of something nice to say to make her feel better, "No, you're not freakish," he paused, "You're unique!"

Kya laughed bitterly, "Great. Unique."

"I thinking it's cool," Aang muttered. "I mean, you can combine both elements into your fighting style and do some real damage."

"Like the Avatar?" she asked, slight amusement rang in her voice despite her bitter tone.

"Well, more like half an Avatar…A Half-atar," he said smiling broadly at his own joke even though it made Zuko slap his forehead and Kya shake her head, rolling her eyes to the Heavens with an expression that could only be read as '_Why me?_' There was another moment of silence between the pair before Kya spoke again.

"I've never used my bending together. I didn't think my troops would follow me if they knew I was a Waterbender. I stick to Firebending most of the time but I know the basic forms for Waterbending, I guess."

"You know we wouldn't complain about you being a Waterbender," Aang added softly.

Kya sighed and sat down, looking at her hands, "Aang…Look, I wish that I didn't know you, because you are a surprisingly nice person, but I can't join your group. I _won't _join your group." She picked up a pebble, "Besides it's not like any of the rest of them would want me there."

"That's not true! I think you'd be a great asset to the team. Katara likes you…Toph, likes to make fun of you. I'm sure Ty-lee wants you here. The others will come around I promise. Oh, and Zuko of course wants you–"

"Zuko doesn't know what he wants. He's never known. First he wants to appease his father, in whatever way possible, prove his worth which led to his eventual hunt of you. Then suddenly, he decides he wants to go against his father. Now he wants to be friends but I remember seven years ago he would, I quote," her voice taking on a likeness to Zuko's: "Never was a friend with you. How could I be friends with a stupid Water Tribe Peasant?" She shook her head, her eyes shining, "You saw the scars on my back, right?" She watched as Aang nodded slowly, puzzlement etched on his face. "Well, let's just say karma sucks and he got a perfect example of that on his face."

"Wait, Zuko gave you those scars?!"

"No. He's just the reason they're there."

"I don't understand…"

"I'm not trying to make you!" Kya shouted, "I don't have to explain myself to a 13-year-old who's holding me prisoner! My sob stories aren't important and I shouldn't have even brought it up." She hung her head, "Just another sign of weakness I guess."

Aang looked like he was about to argue or at least try to comfort the girl. Instead he was silent and leaned down to pick up the staff at Kya's feet. He handed it to her and murmured, "I see you need some time alone; and I trust you enough that I know you won't escape or anything like that. You can get back on your own; I'll get my staff in the morning. Good night." With that he left Kya alone. Zuko, respecting Kya's obvious wishes to be left alone took off in the same direction as Aang.

Kya looked up; her once sullen expression replaced by a devilish smirk, "Idiots."

--

Aang plopped down by the fire, the others looking at him, expectantly waiting for details. He gave none. He simply sat there his hands clutched as he rested his head on them, pensively staring at the flames in front of him. The others shrugged and tried to go back to their other conversations despite occasionally looking back at the Avatar curiously. He ignored them. Minutes passed until he moved again and it was to look up at Zuko as he approached the group. The angry look on Aang's face made him stop in his path.

"What happened between you and Kya seven years ago?"

"What are you talking about Aang?" Zuko asked with a stutter. He knew exactly what Aang was talking about.

"The scars on her back, she said you gave them to her," Aang said, his gaze still cold.

The others looked at him, eyebrows raised with a mixture of curiosity and disgust on their faces.

"It's not like that," he said desperately, looking around at the group, pleadingly, "you heard she said that I was the reason that the scars are there, not that I gave them to her."

"So you were listening in on the conversation, I thought I had seen someone on the upper ledge. Any particular reason you were spying on us?"

"I was making sure she wouldn't kill you."

"With that leg I don't think she would put up much of a fight," he said with a smirk. "You weren't looking out for me; you were looking out for her. He paused, "You know what I don't understand why is your constantly protecting a girl who obviously hates you, and a girl you hurt in the past. You said that you didn't want to be friends with a 'Water Tribe Peasa–

"It wasn't like that! Zuko shouted, the desperation ringing in his voice. "Things just got out of hand! I never meant to–

"Zuko, why don't you just tell us what really happened between you and Kya, seeing as I couldn't get a straight answer from her," Aang asked calmly. Everyone's eyes fixed upon Zuko, Mai went over to squeeze his arm encouragingly, pulling him to sit next to her.

"Well. I might as well start the beginning. When Kya was just three years old her father brought her to the palace. He wanted the advice of an old friend, my mother…

"_I don't know what to do with her, Ursa," said a frightened General Wei, "They just brought her to me, some Water Tribe peasants, claiming that she's my daughter."_

"_What of her mother?" Ursa asked, trying to calm the man._

"_She died, from some disease or other. Apparently, her last dying wish was for her daughter, Kya to be taken to me, her supposed father."_

"_Are you her father?"_

"_What?!"_

"_A simple question enough, Wei. Are you the father?"_

"_Well, I mean, on a Water Tribe raid she was a prisoner. She wasn't a Waterbender so really, she was of no consequence so they didn't kill her right away figured she could be put to work in a factory or something. I was in charge of their watch and she was so beautiful…_

_"Wei, I don't need to know the gory details, just answer the question."_

_Wei's eyes widened, "It's not like–_

_"Wei…" _

_"Yes."_

_"Well then…she's your daughter, your responsibility."_

_"But, you don't understand! This whole fiasco has already brought disgrace to my name. If the officers, my wife," he shuddered visibly, "knew there was a child, well I don't know…"_

_"So you don't want her?"_

_He paused for a moment, ducking his head. "No," he murmured quietly. "She's a constant reminder of my mistake. I don't want her involved in my life."_

_Ursa looked at him for a moment, then sighed, "I suppose I'll find a decent orphanage to send her to. Where is she?"_

_"I left her in the gardens, with your young boy, Zuko. He's a handsome boy. Looks like his father, but got a lot of you in him as well."_

_She smiled at the thought. The pair walked in silence until they approached the gardens where Ursa couldn't help but giggle at the laughing children, and surprisingly laughing husband front of her. Zuko was showing a tiny tan, mocha-haired girl how to feed the turtle ducks with the help of Ozai and every time a duck would take the bread from the girl, who was obviously Kya, she would burst into a fit of giggles. Her laughter was contagious it seemed, her smile beaming, going to her eyes which were a beautiful, ocean blue. She was indeed a beautiful, exotic girl and suddenly the idea of getting rid of her was very hard to process._

_Ozai noticed the pair and stood up, brushing bread crumbs from his tunic. He was grinning, "Lovely girl. Is she yours General Wei?"_

_Wei flushed and opened and closed his mouth like a cat-fish. Ursa answered for him, "Actually, she's from the Southern Water Tribe and she was taken from her family; Wei wanted to bring her to the Capital City orphanage but I suggested that she would make an excellent page for myself, once she's grown up a bit."_

_"A Water Tribe girl?" Ozai asked incredulously._

_"Yes. I thought that it'd be a first step for the Fire Nations. Teaching this girl the greatness of the Fire Nation. So maybe she could share that greatness with her people."_

_Ozai seemed to mull this over before looking up a small smile gracing his lips. "Well, I guess it would be nice for Zuko to have a playmate. At least until his little brother is born," he said patting Ursa's growing belly. "I'll see to it that a bedroom is made for her." He bowed to Wei who returned it quickly. Ursa gave him a curt nod…_

"And then he just left it would be years until Kya saw him again. So Kya stayed with us and she was my friend…probably the only friend I ever had. At least until you guys," Zuko finished, looking around, trying to read the gang's expressions. Hakoda was the first to speak.

"It never ceases to amaze me the cruelty of the Fi– of some people. Leaving his own daughter, because he was afraid of what people might think. Where's the honor in that?"

"Dad, I don't think that was the point of his story…"

"No, it was. I don't know much about their conversation except what my mother told me but I wanted you to understand Kya's history, her parents, one dead and a father that doesn't want her. That will…come into play later. But at least now you know how Kya got to know me in the first place…"

There was a moment of silence before Ty-lee asked, "So what happened to you and Kya then?"

"You don't know? Azula never told you?"

"She doesn't like to bring up the subject," Mai said, "I don't know, she just said you guys had a fight or something…"

"That's strange, she usually loves to brag about ruining a person's life, or at least having a hand in it," he said, dripping malice. "Oh yeah, we had a fight, a big one…It was my tenth birthday party. Despite the fact that I had Kya and my father had a…strange affection for her, he felt that I needed more guy friends…"

"_Hey I'm Chan," said a tall, strong-looking boy. He bowed politely to the prince, "Do you want to play Hide-and-Explode, Prince Zuko?"_

"_Sure!" said a happy Zuko. The boy called Chan smiled brightly and called others around them. "Alright we have enou– _

"_Hey! Can I play?!" asked the 10-year-old Kya smiling brightly running over, pulling at the red tunic she was wearing. Zuko smiled, Kya had been complaining about the tunic all day, that she couldn't move and play. His mom said it made her look like a beautiful young lady. With her dark brown hair tied up in a bun, a fire lily tucked in her ear. Zuko had to hide his blush, he thought she looked really pretty. A loud, sad "Why not?!" made him snap out of his thoughts. Chan had obviously told her no._

"_Because I said so that's why! Besides, no girls aloud, right guys?!"_

"_Yeah!" the guys, minus Zuko, chorused._

"_So why don't you be a good little girl and go play with your dolls or something."_

_There was another shout of "Yeah" from the guys but Zuko wasn't paying attention. He was watching as Kya folded her arms and lips pursed, her eyes glaring daggers at Chan. That was Kya's angry face, Zuko had been on the receiving end of it only once before, but the bruises were enough to realize he should never make Kya angry. Zuko's new playmates weren't going to like him or Kya very much after she pummeled him to the ground, he felt his stomach drop with worry. Fortunately, seeing Zuko's face was enough to make her arms fall down at her sides and her face relax. Hurting this Chan character was going to hurt Zuko as well. She sighed but surrendering, walked away, giving Zuko a sad parting glance before hurrying into the halls of the palace. The boys cheered and ran off to play their game. Zuko, after a glance at where Kya had run off, followed. _

_Kya entered her room. It was small compared to the royal family's but Kya loved it all the same. She flopped on her bed, burying her head into the pillow. Moments later she heard her door open and close, she looked up to find Princess Azula looking at her with an eyebrow raised._

"_What are you doing?"_

"_The boys wouldn't let me play with them."_

"_So?" she rolled her eyes visibly. "Boys are just stupid that way, even Zuzu. _

_Kya shook her head. "No, Zuko was the only one who seemed to feel bad…"_

"_Yeah, but he still went with them right. Face it; those boys are probably Zuko's new friends." Azula saw Kya's head hang, her eyes wide and sad, she sighed._

"_But, that doesn't mean you can't be friends with my brother," she said, her tone more patronizing than comforting._

"_But they don't like me…"_

_Azula rolled her eyes. This girl could be so stupid sometimes, yet _everyone_ loved her. She couldn't deny that she herself had once enjoyed Kya's companionship but now that she had Mai and Ty-lee, two friends her own age that had potential and power, Kya seemed obsolete. She sighed, yet sometimes she found herself…jealous of the girl. Moments passed as neither spoke a word, each in their own thoughts: Kya, thinking about the possibility of having to share Zuko or hang out with those stupid boys; Azula, plotting against the Water Tribe girl. Unfortunately Azula would put her plan into action._

"_Well then, we'll just have to make them like you now, won't we?" She said causing Kya to look at her, confused. She continued, "You'll have to show them that you were here first and that you're Zuko's friend and that you're just as good as them." She started pacing, pretending to think although she had already had her next moves sorted out, "Zuko will probably be the last one to be found because he's the birthday boy and he'll know where the best hiding places are, right?" Kya nodded, now looking a little more excited, sitting up now. "Well, you know this palace probably better than he does so you find him before they do! Then maybe they'll see how great you are." _

_Kya smiled and jumped up, looking to dash toward the door only to be stopped by Azula's next words, "We might as well take care of the other problem as well."_

_Kya turned, "What other problem?"_

"_Well, you have a crush on Zuzu," she said simply causing Kya to turn beet red and duck her head, "but so does Mai…"_

"_So?"_

"_So…Zuko, as much of a dum-dum as he can be sometimes knows this. I mean he says he doesn't like girls but in time he will. You've got to show him how important he is to you, and why not on one of his most important birthdays?"_

"_I don't know Azula…"_

"_Well fine, I always thought Zuzu and Mai would make a good couple anyway," she said waving her hand and sauntering off._

_Kya paled at the thought of Zuko and Mai together. She was ten but had stumbled on some of the romance novels in the library which had turned her into a hopeless romantic. She didn't want to be the "other woman" as they said in those novels. "Wait, so what do I do?"_

_Azula stopped, her hand wrapped on the door handle. She smirked, her plan was going to be a success, and not that she ever doubted it or anything, "Why don't you give him a present? You're really good at drawing right? Make him a painting."_

_Kya seemed to think about this but slowly her head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, alright that's a good idea. Thanks Azula."_

"_Oh don't thank me; I was just trying to…help you out. What are friends for, right?"_

_Kya smiled softly and then began rummaging in her closet for the art set that Iroh had given her from a small yet important Earth Kingdom him and his men and conquered. He had given her the set for her own tenth birthday which had been a few months ago. Azula smirked at Kya's back before turning and leaving. She was humming the Fire Nation birthday march as she walked down the halls of mingling guests, a true Princess of the Fire Nation._

_--_

_Zuko laughed to himself, no one would find him here. It was a perfect hiding spot, one of the closets that the maids and servants had outside their quarters that held all their cleaning supplies. It had been a long while since the game had started but Zuko would wait patiently, at least until he thought they had given up and he would show up back in the garden, confident showing those boys how to play the game. Suddenly he felt hurried, light footsteps outside his closets, 'Probably one of the servants having to clean a spilled drink or something,' he thought to himself. He stiffened when he realized they had stopped at his closet, he wasn't sure if the servants would appreciate him hiding in there. The door swung open and he closed his eyes waiting for some punishment but all he received was a light punch in the shoulder and a cheery "Got you!" He opened his eyes to see a beaming Kya in front of him. He sighed with relief, "What do you mean?"_

_"Those boys think I can't play this game well I'm showing them." She stepped into the cramped closet with him, "So I'm going to wait here for them and then tell them how I was the only one who could find you. Then they'll have to let me play."_

_Zuko grinned, a small chuckle emitting from him; Kya was always trying to prove herself and she hated it when she didn't get her way. Zuko shifted to make room for his new hiding buddy but there was little space to move and he and Kya ended up practically smashed together; not that either minded, they were around each other so much that this normally awkward situation was just…a situation. Moments passed before either spoke but they were so close in the closet that Zuko could hear Kya's unsteady breathing and felt her body was hot. Something was wrong, he voiced his concern. "Kya, you alright?" He lit a small flame in his hand and held it up to Kya's face, she was blushing furiously._

_"I got you a birthday present," she muttered weakly, looking at her feet. He now noticed the scroll tied with a dragon-embroidered ribbon looped around it in a bow. _

_He grinned, "Ah, thanks Kya, you didn't have to," he said excitedly, grabbing the scroll and carefully untying the ribbon._

_"I know. I wanted to though. Happy Birthday, Zuko."_

_He unfurled the scroll to reveal a beautiful, and not to mention fairly realistic portrait of the gardens with him and his Kya feeding the turtle ducks. On the bottom was a small note, 'To my friend on his tenth birthday, to show that even when things change, some things never change. Like our friendship. Happy Birthday Zuko. Love, Kya.' It was Zuko's turn to blush, Kya had always given him birthday presents on his birthday but most were little toys, usually with a joke on the bottom. He had never gotten anything so…serious. He had always known that Kya liked him, at least that's what Azula told him and he couldn't deny that he sometimes he thought Kya was pretty but "love"…Love was a strong word. He loved her sure, but more like a sister or how one loves a good friend, not that way. He realized Kya was no longer looking at the floor but that her eyes were fixed on him, waiting for him to say something._

_"It's really pretty Kya, thanks. You're a really great friend."_

_Kya smiled brightly, "I just wanted you to know that I'll always be there for you. That you're my best friend in the entire world."_

_Zuko nodded, and boldly took her hand giving it a squeeze. Kya returned the squeeze, her smile reaching her eyes now that they crinkled in a very cute way. Zuko smiled lightly and turned to face her, "Kya…"_

_At that moment the door swung open to reveal a smirking Chan, "Well, what do we have here?" He looked to see the picture clutched in Zuko's hand and snatched it from him, reading it, he laughed, "Ah how cute, the wittle girl is in wuv with the Prince"_

_Kya glared at him but the blush on her face made it weaker somehow, "Give it back Chan," she ordered._

_"You can't boss me around!" Chan then turned on his heels and ran laughing the whole way, yelling in a sing-song voice "Zuko's got a girlfriend!" Kya took after him down the halls, Zuko still stunned with embarrassment and all that had happened remained in the closet for a moment before shaking his head and running after the two. When he got to the gardens it was too late. Chan was already reading the scroll to the other boys, holding it out of Kya's reach. "…Love Kya" he finished. The group aw-ed in a mocking tone. "So, Kya, that's an interesting name…Sounds very Water Tribe if you ask me. Which she is, by the way," he told the rest of the group, "My father told me all about it, you're some Water Tribe peasant that is now Lady Ursa's servant or something." He laughed when he saw Zuko enter the gardens, "Hey boys Zuko's in love with a Water Tribe servant girl." The boys laughed, causing Zuko to blush, but his jaw was set, he was getting angry. The boys were now chanting "Zuko's in love." Kya looked to him for help but he simply glared at her. She had embarrassed him, Prince of the Fire Nation in front of his friends at his birthday party._

_"I don't love her!" he shouted at the group, causing them to fall silent. "She's not my friend, either! She's just some stupid girl my family took in because her own parents didn't want her. He turned on Kya, "I was never friends with you. How could I be friends with a stupid Water Tribe Peasant?" He was seething, the anger boiling inside of him but when he actually looked at Kya, instead of just looking in her direction as he had when he was yelling, he noticed the unmistakable hurt in her eyes which were now the dark color of stormy waters. She was breathing heavily and a tear fell from her eye. She looked at him for a moment before running to the turtle-duck pond in the next garden. The others looked on silently, stunned by Zuko's outburst. They had just been teasing after all. Zuko sighed, now calming slightly; he hadn't meant what he said at all and soon followed Kya into the garden. She was sitting at the edge of the pond, sobbing. "Kya…" he murmured quietly as he approached, "Kya don't cry, look I'm so–_

_"Go away!" she said quietly, her voice deepened from crying._

_"Please…I didn't mean what I said, I–_

_"Go away!" she repeated, her voice rising._

_"Kya, it's not like that I–_

_"Go away!" she screamed, turning on him her arm flinging absently in the air. _

_Little did she know that water would follow slashing Zuko across the chest…_

Zuko pulled up his shirt lightly, pointing out the faint line of the scar. "It used to be a lot worse, but they faded with time…But anyway…so Kya was accused of trying to murder me in the name of her people, the generals found her guilty and she was given a punishment of fire lashings and entering the military." He sighed, "It wasn't her fault…I mean she didn't know she was a Waterbender, it was an accident, I never meant for any of that to happen." He felt his eyes water slightly in regret but he held back his tears. He looked around at the group who was staring at him stunned. After awhile, Aang spoke.

"I guess she does have a right to be angry at you. You broke her heart."

Zuko hung his head in response.

"But I guess that means we'll have to try ten times harder to make her like us." The group looked up at Aang, surprised at his change of topic. "She would be a useful addition to our group so I want all of you on your best behavior with her tomorrow, I think I'm going to invite her to watch us train…Toph did Kya make it back?"

"Yup, sound asleep in her bed."

"Okay great, well, sleeping sounds like a good idea, and I'm going to do just that." He headed off toward the sleeping area giving Zuko a squeeze on the shoulder, almost to say he was forgiven, as he passed. Soon the others started to get up following their young leader.

"You think it's a good idea to let her watch us train, she could, figure out our strategy," Haru asked as they walked off, his prejudice still there even though he had heard her story. This earned him a punch from The Duke. The others were murmuring their opinions as well but Zuko ignored them and stared absently at the fire. Soon only he and Toph remained.

"What, you not going to bed," Zuko questioned.

"Zuko…Kya's gone.

--

OMG it's done, after forever! It took me a seriously long time to right this chapter, as it is my longest yet. But I loved every minute of it, maybe a bit too long, I can be so meticulous about descriptions. Also, a lot of reveals in this chapter. But I thought I'd get through the explanations of the past so we could start with developing relationships/characters and so forth. Should be an exciting next chapter, some serious Kya/Zuko interaction! Hooray! Okay well hope you like this one.

As always R&R!

-Ktsvillefan


	7. Chapter 7

Finally I get to sit down at the computer and write. With summer homework and soccer everyday I've had little or no time to get the next chapter written. So as my teacher's are currently striking and school seems to be never approaching I thought on this warm Wednesday afternoon I'd get cracking.

2 months later….

Yeah, I know. I suck.

You know what I forgot. Kya broke Zuko's kneecap. Since bones take awhile to heal, even with Katara's healing powers, let's just assume, like Kya, he's still slightly damaged but not as bad as Kya. Eh, I'll explain it in the chapter.

ALSO: STILL LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DO CHAPTER ART!

_----_

"_Zuko…Kya's gone."_

_-----_

Toph's words seemed to have left Zuko stunned, 'and angry,' she thought sensing his pounding heart rate. Toph felt it best if she'd explain herself before he started functioning normally again.

"She's been trying to get out of this temple ever since Aang left her. She just made it out a few minutes before you finished your story."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, his voice rising. "Do you know what you've done?! If Kya gets away she could totally compromise our–

"Calm down, Hot Head and let me finish!" Toph yelled, rising to her feet. "Look I didn't say anything because everyone doesn't trust Kya, and the fact that she was trying to escape might not help her case! Besides she can't have gone to far, with that leg of hers, even if she does have Aang's staff."

Zuko was silent, and he stood up, "Then I'll bring her back."

"You want me to come with you? You can't exactly move very fast with your leg either," she said motioning to his kneecap which Kya had broken in their last reunion.

"No. It's alright, Katara says it's basically healed anyway, I've been practicing running on it and it doesn't hurt to much. Just like a sore muscle maybe. Besides, I think this is something I should to do alone." Without another word the boy took off in the opposite direction into the darkness. Thunder roared ominously, Toph could only hope that Zuko would be alright.

------

Kya stabbed the Avatar's staff into the ground, dragging herself slowly along. She had been walking for about an hour now and she wasn't making too much progress in making her way away from the temple. She could only pray that the group wouldn't notice her absence until the morning, which by then she would be long gone. She looked up as she heard the loud rumble of thunder which was soon followed by a bright flash of lightening. Kya sighed, "Great a storm's coming, well at least I'll have some time before it arrive–

The rain started pouring. Kya now soaked and cold attempted to warm herself with her Firebending, but the ice cold water that was pounding down on her was relentless made her bending useless. With another sigh she pulled her clothes closer to her body and pulled her staff out of the ground and continued on her journey. It would be a long night.

-----

The gale was relentless as Kya walked across the now muddy ground, the light slippers, something from the Kyoshi Warrior's stay at the Boiling Rock were no match and like the rest of her clothes were soaked through. The squelching that erupted from the now useless shoes at every step was beginning to get on her nerves so, balancing on the staff; she slipped them off, leaving them to sink down into a puddle. The muddy water, now removed off it's barrier, assailed her feet and although it was a minor comfort to feel her element swarm around her, it was still extremely cold water and her body tensed as shivers went up her spine, 'I'll just have to get used to it, that's all, just like swimming. She coughed loudly and continued on.

-----

Zuko kept a hand in front of his face to shield him from the wind and the rain, both of which seemed to be forcing him back to the comfortable Air Temple, but he needed to find Kya and he continued racing through the storm.

An hour seemed to pass and he was still unable to find his former friend. His clothes were soaked to the bone, but with his Firebending he was able to keep his temperature up to combat the cold. He hoped Kya was doing the same. He pushed blindly on, his boots splashing through mud puddles. Lighting flashed overhead illuminating Zuko's path. Something caught his eye floating in a puddle ahead. He rushed over picking up the soaked item of clothing. Lighting flashed again and Zuko frowned with worry. _'She must be freezing without shoes…But honestly, it's a good thing she left them. At least now I know I'm on the right path.' _Zuko took off as fast as he could, battling the oncoming winds; Kya couldn't be too far ahead.

----

She heaved, the cough racking her body. Every part of her felt cold; all she wanted was to get warm to be in a cozy bed waiting for the storm to pass. She should have waited or at least looked up to see the dark clouds rolling in, covering the moon and the stars. She wanted to go home.

'But where is home?' Kya asked herself.

'You have no home,' the now ever-present voice in her head answered. For some strange reason over the course of the night it had mutated from her own voice to that of her old, scarred friend. Anger surged momentarily, even in her own mind she couldn't get away from the boy. He'd even hurt her there. Apparently, the voice wasn't over, it laughed mockingly, 'Stupid Waterbender, so naïve. You honestly thought Zuko could love you.' The voice continued to cackle; everything started to swim before her eyes and she had to close her eyes to steady herself. She tried to walk forward but her foot sank into a rather deep puddle. She stared vacantly at the water, the hem of her pants swirling in the water, the fabric soaking up more and more of the dirty fluid. Kya closed her eyes, the water no longer felt cold but warm, as if it the puddle had been sitting out in the sun all day. She smiled and felt something tug on her sleeve. Her vibrant blue eyes opened and she saw that it was no longer raining but bright and sunny; 'the storm must finally be over' she thought absently to herself, smiling. She looked down at the thing which was pulling on her sleeve to see that it was in fact Zuko, smiling brilliantly at her. Her only glanced her mind that he looked younger than he should but then forgot immediately as the boy started talking.

"Kya!" he cried happily, "Come on let's play!" Before she could answer he took off at a run taking big leaps into each puddle. "Look, I'm a Waterbender!" _Splash!_ He stomped through more puddles waving his arms in his imaginings of what a Waterbender would look like.

Kya laughed gaily, following him; trying to copy his movements, "Zuko! We're both Waterbenders!" She continued to laugh but suddenly everything felt warm again, too warm and her mind started swimming. She clutched her head in an attempt to steady herself. "Whoa, kind of dizzy," she laughed weakly. Zuko turned and smiled again.

"You should sit down, cool off." Zuko said, taking her hand and sitting her down against a log.

"Yeah. You're right. Just rest for a bit," she murmured her eyes closing as she laid her head back against the wood. "Just for a minute…"

Zuko nodded, satisfied and then went back to his playing in the puddles. Kya smiled to herself and listened to his laughter. She let it consume her, fill her with happiness. 'This is so much fun,' she thought, 'I've missed this…' Exhaustion swept through her body begging her to fall asleep. She tried feebly to stay awake but she succumbed to the request. She would rest only for a moment; then she would get back to her best friend Zuko and they would play just like old times. She would only rest for a moment.

-----

Zuko's heart plummeted towards his stomach and shivers went up his spine, but it was not due to the cold; crumpled on the ground in a shaking heap was Kya. He rushed over to her trying to shake her awake but with no results. She remained still, her body shivering. Instinctively he moved his hand to her face but had to pull back, her skin was on fire with fever. '_She's dying, she needs to wake up!' _Zuko thought desperately to himself as he lifted her into his arms. His legs screamed in pain from the exhaustion of running and now the extra weight added onto his bad knee. He knew he wouldn't make it far with the pain; he had overexerted himself earlier trying to find her. Slowly he walked off the path, deeper into the forest, looking for shelter.

"Zuko…" Kya muttered, her voice weak, barely above a whisper.

He sighed, glad she was awake, "Yes Kya. You're safe now."

"I'm cold…"

"We're going to find somewhere to sleep, to get warm, and just hug yourself closer to me for now."

He felt her frail body tighten its grip, her arms snaking around his neck and burying her face there. "Keep talking to me…I need to stay awake," she said softly, her hot breath tickling his skin, sending a strange feeling to the pit of his stomach. Zuko laughed weakly, trying to think of something to talk about.

"Do you remember our favorite game?" he asked.

He felt her nod. "The Dragon Warriors. We used to play that all the time. You were–

"Shan the warrior prince," he finished.

She laughed weakly, "You could control all dragons, and you had a pet one named Mushi."

It was Zuko's turn to laugh, "I wasn't the best with names…"

Kya smiled into his neck, "And I was Oma, the warrior princess from the rival kingdom."

"Two people who should have been enemies–"

"But became best friends and –

"THE DRAGON WARRIORS!" they shouted laughing, Kya's ringing in his ears like chimes causing the sense of déjà vu of a time when they were so young, so innocent. Everything was so different now.

They continued laughing and retelling stories of the epic adventures of the Dragon Warriors while Zuko walked. As they trudged deeper into the forest Kya's voice got weaker and weaker, her yawns became more frequent along with her shivers although she was warmer than when he found her. Soon she was drifting to sleep and he had to keep shaking her awake every so often. Luckily, one of these rude awakenings was one that brought good news: Zuko had seen a cave up ahead during a lightening flash.

"Come on, let's get dry."

The cave was small but warm, the opening small enough to block out most of the wind and rain. He set Kya down against a rock face and collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. He turned his head over to hers and she was smiling weakly at him through half-lidded eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments before Zuko seemed to shake himself out of his stupor.

"There's enough old twigs and leaves in here to start a fire." With that he set to work collecting all the brambles and assorted foliage, throwing it into a growing pile. Then with a short fire blast, the dry brush erupted into flames. Zuko sat back next to Kya, who inched close to the fire. She shivered again. "You're still cold?"

She looked to him and sighed, "I don't know," her voice soft, "I'm too tired to Firebend," she coughed loudly, taking a few minutes for the rasping coughs to subside, "and my clothes are soaked."

Zuko nodded, and the two sat in silence. His mind had come up with an idea how to keep him and Kya warm but the thought made him blush. He closed his eyes and sighed, exasperated. If he didn't want her to get sick he would have to do something.

"Take off your clothes," he said bluntly.

There was a long pause before Kya responded, she seemed stunned. "Excuse me?!"

"Look we both need to get warm and staying in these clothes won't help. I can still Firebend to keep us warm if we just sleep close together. I'm not asking you to get naked or anything," he said, the blush growing on his face, "You can keep your under wrappings on, I'm sure those will be fine and dry quick." He took off his shirt, "Come on. We're both tired and I don't want to have to go back to camp explaining why you're sick after running away. If we get some sleep now we can wake up early and get to the temple before they even know that we were gone. I won't tell them what happened."

She looked at him for a few silent moments, her blue eyes shining and wide with surprise. Then without another word she stripped down as well. "I'm too cold to complain," she stated trying to sound aloof but her hands were shaking as she settled next to Zuko.

He laid back against the cold ground, turning on his Firebending full blast. Kya laid down next to Zuko, bringing her body next to his. Zuko was asleep faster than she was, and she couldn't blame him, he had been running around all night. '_Searching for me…' _Her eyes traced Zuko's body, something of total perfection except for the scar on his face, but even that in a way was beautiful, an amazing contrast to the rest of him. While others had always joked about it, saying it was a mark of stupidity, of weakness, Kya had always thought it was one of strength. She knew how much strength it would take to stand up to his father like that. She spent a few more moments following the contours of his face and out of impulse brushed the hair out of his eyes. Then she settled into his warm chest and everything was dark.


	8. Chapter 8

I've had my first less-than-stellar review: my character is a quote "walking cliché." Well, I'm pretty sure I came up with the concept completely on my own, I didn't realize an orphan fire-water bender that was page to Zuko's mom with major issues was completely unoriginal. I suppose there are those stories that have the "Zuko's old friend returns" story but I wasn't to distract from the original story which I think such OCs tend to do. I only wanted to enhance the story with an interesting character with an interesting background and write a good, well-written continuation to one of my favorite television shows. *Shrugs* Well, if Kya is a cliché then damn, she'll be the best-written cliché out there**!** Anyway, rant over. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, as always R&R.

ALSO: STILL NEED SOMEONE TO DO CHAPTER ART!!!!!

So, here continues Scars Sometimes Fade

-----

Zuko was pleasantly warm, a mysterious source of heat emitting the glorious warm against him. He stretched, yawning his eyes still closed, not yet quite ready to greet the day. As he opened one eye he was met with a plait of short brown hair. He froze, remembering all that had happened, now realizing that the source of heat was in fact, his former best friend that was currently wearing nothing but the less-than-conservative wrappings that women in the Fire Nation wore. He blushed furiously, and made a move to get up but was stopped by a stir from Kya who snuggled closer, her nails lightly scratching his chest as she curled them. Her head turned, still, snuggling in the crook of his neck, her breath tickling him with every exhale, and he saw the look of peace that had been recently unfamiliar on the girl's face. The features which always seemed to be contorted in anger in his presence were relaxed and he realized the beauty she had gained from her parents: the strong, sharp jaw and high cheek-bones of the Fire Nation that retained a softness that was all Water Tribe, the skins of her people infusing to give her a mocha-cream complexion, somewhere in between Katara and Sokka's darkness and his own pale skin. If Fire Nation people weren't such elitists in their thinking they may have realized the amazing result from intermingling of the races. Kya shifted again, snapping Zuko out of his thoughts and causing him to blush harder. Why did he keep having thoughts about Kya?! He was…in love with Mai. Wasn't he? Her cruel comments from the night before reverberated in his mind and he wasn't so sure. His thoughts ran to the other members of the group each with different feelings of his old friend. Then he remembered:

"Kya!"

Kya groaned and pushed herself up until her half-open eyes met Zuko's. "S'matter?" she asked. Then after a pause, seeing the position she was in, on top of her old friend, her eyes snapped fully open and she quickly rolled off him, her blush matching the Fire bender's. She made a move to say something but Zuko silenced her.

"We need to get back before the others wake up, or else they'll know you tried to escape. They definitely won't trust you then…"

This seemed to bring Kya back to reality. "So?" she said agitated, slipping into her clothes which had dried by the fire during the night. Zuko was putting his clothes on as well, and she couldn't help but take a peek at the way his abs flecked as he stretched, pulling the shirt over his head. "Who says I want them to trust me?"

"Oh come off it, we can't let you leave and we don't want to keep you locked up. You might as well just join us."

She seemed to think about this for a minute. She obviously wanted to argue some more but then thought better of it. "Alright let's go."

-----

Aang sat meditating on a rock in the lower levels of the air temple. He felt the sun bathe his skin in its warmth as it rose higher and higher into the sky, announcing the beginning of the day. Aang slowly opened one eye and observed his surroundings. It was sunrise and one essential part of the scenery was missing: his hot-headed Fire-bending teacher.

The Airbender let out an exasperated sigh. _'Where is he?' _he wondered, '_he's always on time. He's usually even early_.' Then it hit him, this was part of the lesson. Yes, that was it! Zuko was going to sneak up on him, ambush him to see if he could fight with Firebending under such conditions. So with that he waited, and settled back on the rock, his ears pricked listening for any noise that would signal Zuko's movement. Suddenly, he heard a twig crack behind him and with his natural Airbender speed turned around to throw a barrage of fire balls at his attacker…to see that there was none.

"Aang, what are you doing?" came a voice to his side. Zuko was standing there his good eye wide, his eyebrow arched with a sort of amused smile gracing his lips. To the Fire Prince's right Kya was resting on his staff also with a bemused expression on his face. Aang felt the heat and color rise to his face. Of course, he had been getting Kya from her room in the temple. With her leg it would take awhile to get here.

"You were getting, Kya?"

"Yep. You said that she could watch our lessons, right?" Zuko stated, his voice smooth and calm, as it always was. The Airbender suspected nothing.

"Oh, right. Of course. So should we begin Sifu."

Zuko smiled, "Yes…tell me where we left off."

-----

"No. No. _No." _groaned the Fire Prince, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You need to–

"Zuko I know how to do it!" interrupted the frustrated Airbender. "Something's wrong."

"You're obviously not doing it right," huffed Zuko.

"I'm doing it exactly as you told me!"

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

Kya coughed, interrupting the conflict. "Will you guys quit it, you sound like children…You're the Avatar!" she said pointing at the aforementioned, "and _you're _the Prince of the Fire Nation," she repeated to his partner. "You have to act mature! How in the world do you think you are going to vanquish the _evil_ Fire Lord when you sit their like bickering five-year-olds! Besides I know what's wrong with the move!

"You do?!" the boys said in unison.

"Yes."

Zuko shook his head incredulously. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Just because I'm stuck here, doesn't mean I want to help you!"

"You said you were joining us!"

"No! _You _said I'd join the group," Kya shouted angrily, prodding Zuko hard in the chest. "Besides, if I had said no, you probably would have left me in that forest."

"What forest?" questioned Aang.

"Nothing!" the Firebenders shouted in unison, their eyes still locked angrily on each other, causing the Avatar to back away slowly with his hands up. "Okay sorry, never mind."

"So I suppose, even though now we know that _you_ know what's wrong, you're not going to help us." Zuko said mockingly.

"No. I'm going to help. If it'll make you shut up, then I guess it's okay if I show him one move," she replied.

"Well, fine!" Zuko shouted, still angry. "Let's hear what you have to say..."

"Fine."

"His stance is off."

"What?! We've been working on this forever, I've shown him a hundred times."

"It's when he's shifting to the kick, it's only a slight error, I'm not surprised you didn't see it." Kya slid off the rock and limped over to the Avatar leaving his staff on the perch. She stood parallel to him and took the basic stance that started the move. "Okay so you know how you turn like this," she said as she performed the motion. "When you turn for the kick you're on your toes slightly, guess it's your natural Airbender lightness kicking in. For the move when you shift your feet need to be completely on the ground, your stance firm so you have the push off to draw enough power within yourself to complete the move. It's pretty simple really."

"It seems like it," Aang said with a grin and then performed the move perfectly, creating a wave of fire that emitted from his chop kick to the ground.

"That was great!" Kya beamed, excitement making her voice unusually high and feminine. "Now there's this really cool move that's sort of like this only the fire comes out more tunnel like this—

"Well this is just great!" interrupted a smiling Katara who had just entered the courtyard followed by a smirking Toph. "I guess we have two Firebending teachers now."

Katara's presence brought Kya back to reality; she coughed to clear her throat, her voice returning to it's normal pitch. She shrugged, "It was just to get them to stop arguing."

"Well for whatever reasons you did it, I don't care, at least I have this move down," interjected the still smiling Avatar.

"Yeah. It really helped, Kya, thanks," Zuko murmured from behind the group, eyes focused on the ground.

Kya felt a slight heat rise to her face at the compliments from the young fighters but she quickly heated the rest of her body up as to avoid flushing. "It was just a one time thing…"

---

"You've got to strike, Sokka!" the Fire Nation General yelled, exasperation dripping in her voice. "You can't just expect to find a hole dancing around Suki like that. She's too good a fighter; if you want an opening you have to make one yourself!" As if on queue Sokka lunged and Suki with one fluid movement of her own wooden practice sword effectively ripped the Water Tribe warrior's weapon from his hands. The object clattered to the ground, the hollowed crash echoing on the stone floor of the temple. Kya watched it, her jaw set, a frown etched upon her face, she looked up to see Sokka grinning meekly at her.

"Whoops."

"Whoops? Whoops?! If this was a real fight any Fire Nation soldier would have killed you before you could even say something as ridiculous as whoops."

Sokka frowned, "I'm sorry. But thanks for showing me that trick, once I get it down I think it should really help my technique."

"I should think so. I developed that technique myself and I've never lost with it."

"Well at least a win is guaranteed then; good to know," Sokka said with a wide grin. "You know it seems you've helped everyone in this past week, Kya…"

Kya shook her head, "No. Not everyon—

"Sure everyone," interjected Suki as she approached the pair, handing them water pouches.

"You've been helping Aang and Zuko with Firebending," agreed Sokka.

"Us with fighting," added Suki.

"Helped my dad make some good weapons…"

"Carved Teo a new axle for his chair…"

"Helped Katara with—

"Okay I get it!" Kya said, silencing the couple. "Look, it's not like I have anything better to do. I'm not going anywhere…"

"Well that's good to know," called a smiling Aang as he rode in on his air scooter. "So you've decided you're going to officially be on our team."

"No not exact—

"But you said you were staying—

"Yeah, because I'm your prisoner, and my leg."

"You're leg's been fine for the past couple of days; and no one would stop you if you left. We know you wouldn't reveal where we are, you're one of us!"

"Yeah!" agreed Sokka, his grin impossibly wide. Suddenly, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. "You know…you helped us so much, taught us a lot. Is there anything we could teach you something!"

"Yeah! So what do you want to learn?!" questioned the newly inspired Avatar.

"Do you want to learn how to duel with fans?" asked Suki.

"How 'bout a boomerang?"

The two warriors and Aang continued their barrage of suggestion, all of which were making Kya feel more and more overwhelmed. All the kindness was too much. She almost liked it better 6 days ago when they hated her. She sometimes missed the silence and space they gave her. Now that she was part of the "team" apparently that meant invasion of all areas of life.

"…How about.—

"Lunch," called the relieving voice of Katara. Kya sighed, at least she was off the hook about this whole thing for now. She looked to find the group already gone, Sokka dragging Suki along at an almost sprint and Aang on his scooter again. She gave a slight laugh at her new friends, '_Wait? Did I just call them my friends?!"_

----

Zuko was lounging by the large fountain, enjoying the cool spray against his face. Mai sat against him, a soft smile splayed on her face as she played absently with the strong hand that was entwined with her own. Zuko couldn't help but think about his new residence and its peaceful perfection. Of course, what is peace without something to shatter it.

"Lunch!" Katara called from the kitchen carrying out, with the help of Haru, a large pot of steaming broth.

In an instant, Sokka, Suki, Aang, the Duke, Toph, Teo and Chet Zang came rushing into the room, all quickly grabbing bowls and standing in line for the imminent lunch. Hakoda who was sitting in the corner carving a piece of wood, laughed at the youngsters (and the large, incredibly intimidating convict) and took his place in the queue. Ty-lee followed, bouncing out of nowhere, cart-wheeling to the group. Mai smiled at her boyfriend and with a soft, predictably bored sigh went and joined the others. Zuko was just about to go behind her when he stopped in his motion by a figure coming over the steps.

Kya had certainly improved in the last week, she was walking easily, her ribs had healed except for some mild bruising; she had been well fed, her body looking stronger with each passing day. Also, her hair was starting to grow back; it was now at a point which it resembled Zuko's back in Ba Sing Se except her plait was a dark, mocha brown that exuded softness and shine. Zuko felt his heart race momentarily and his face heat; she was wearing one of Katara's Fire Nation outfits, Katara wearing her usual blue ensemble, and he couldn't help but notice combined with her healthy look and the revealing clothes just how beautiful she was. Also, the light was hitting her at a certain angle that gave her an angelic glow. As she reached her place in line her eyes momentarily caught Zuko's and she gave him, he couldn't even believe it, a smile. Well actually, it was closer to a twitch of her upper lip but it wasn't a scowl or a grimace so the Fire Nation prince wasn't complaining. It was a start.

"Zuko, are you going to get some food or not? You better hurry before Sokka goes in for seconds—

"And thirds," laughed a smirking Toph.

Zuko shook himself, everyone was getting seated, all had their food. "Sorry. Yeah, I'm coming." He joined the others.

----

Everyone was finished with their food and were now relaxing, full and content.

"So we were talking about Kya has been helping us so much with everything in the past week," started Sokka, everyone perking up to attention, including Kya who quickly started looking for food in her bowl that obviously wasn't there.

"Well we thought we could help her out," finished Aang, "teach her something."

"That's a great idea Aang," smiled Katara, "what do you want to learn?"

At an instant all eyes were on Kya. She looked up nervously then quickly put her head down. "Oh I don't know…"

"Oh come on, Hot-head, I'm sure there's something you don't know," said Toph, "actually I'm sure that there's a lot you don't know." This got a short laugh from the others, while putting Kya more at ease, at least she could be angry at the blind Earthbender.

"I could show you some of the inventions I made," suggested Teo.

"I could show you how to bash some heads," added the Duke, this also gaining a laugh from the group.

"How about some native Water Tribe hunting styles?" added Hakoda gaining a look from his son. "What? I'm a guy, that's all I got."

Katara's eyes widened, "That's it!"

"What? Look I know Dad's not exactly being—

"No, Water Tribe stuff. I can teach you all I know about Water Tribe culture; and I can help you with you're Waterbending, not that you're bad or anything but maybe some new moves? I could teach you how to heal if you've got it in you."

Kya scratched her head, "Well…"

"That's a great idea, Katara! I have to do my Waterbending lesson right now anyway, Kya can just join in," piped in Aang.

"…actually I…"

"Alright then it's settled," settled Sokka.

----

"So the octopus form is not too difficult, you just have to concentrate on every aspect of the form so you can attack your opponent at any level," Katara motioned, providing a perfect example of the move.

"Okay, yeah that makes sense," Kya said as the water tentacles rose up around her, "I think I've almost got it," she twitched slightly and the water broke apart. For what felt like the hundredth time since the Waterbending lesson had begun she had failed at learning the complex forms Katara was teaching, including the one that was splashing back into the pond. Kya growled, exasperated, "God! Why can't I get this?!"

"Don't worry," Aang said, sickening positivity ringing in his voice, "with a master like Katara you'll be a master yourself in no time."

"Yeah, you're getting the forms down basically, there just needs to be some tweaking, but I'm sure you'll get these motions down soon," aforementioned master piped in, her voice equally optimistic, "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Voices chorused their own encouragement from the sidelines, all had gathered around the pond beneath the setting sun to watch Katara and her pupils train. Kya was about to thank them, and stop them from being so insanely confident in her abilities when a gruff laugh interrupted her thoughts.

"What's up, Zuko?" asked the young Airbender as he floated on his back in the water. The others looked at him, eyebrows arched, all curious about the sound the Fire Prince had emitted; they had never heard him laugh before.

Zuko was about to take offense to their surprise but he decided it best to explain himself. "You're obviously not trying, Kya."

Kya snapped, "Excuse me!"

"Did I stutter, Ky?'

"No I just think something's wrong with your eyesight, '_Z_.'"

"Well, if you were trying you'd have had the move by now, wouldn't you? You just feeling apprehensive because this is going against everything that you've believe in…or that you've been brainwashed to believe."

"Well you try living in army barracks for six years and see if they don't have some influence on you."

Zuko smirked, "Look, it's understandable to feel this way. That accepting this teaching is betraying your country somehow, and that it's wrong to learn actual Waterbending. Trust me, it took me a year after having the idea of Fire Nation superiority being pushed down my throat for 16 years before I could really see the light. It's okay to be our side—"

"Is it?!" Kya blurted, frustrated, "It might have been easy for you to get out of it, it obviously doesn't matter to you what people think, but I work incredibly hard to get where I am, I had to make a lot of sacrifices. Doing this bending means I'm basically throwing all that away. Besides I really don't care if I get this stupid move or not," she yelled, splashing the water vehemently, "I just did it because I thought it would make you guys happy…But you know, I don't know why I care! This is just stupid, trying to take on the Fire Lord, even with the Avatar, I don't know why I allied myself with such a hopeless cause!" She looked to the shocked faces around her and ducked her head. "I'm done for today," she murmured and took off toward her room.

----

The group was seated around the campfire, silent.

"You think Kya's right?" Aang murmured his eyes locked on the crackling flames in front of him. "That it's hopeless to try and fight to Fire Lord."

"No," Zuko said simply, "It's not hopeless, Kya's just really confused, she says things she doesn't mean when she gets angry. There's a lot of reasons for her not to be here and she can't understand why she wants to stay…"

"You think she wants to stay?"

Zuko nodded, "I'm sure of it."

"Zuko, how can you be sure?" Ty-lee asked, "I want Kya to be here, I want her to feel welcome but it really seems like she wants to go back home. It's not like she had a chance to make a decision on her own on this matter."

"Ty-lee's right, we've kidnapped her, imprisoned her here, and even now when she could leave any time, we force our friendship on her. It's a lot to think about…" Aang said thoughtfully.

The rest of the group started to add their own opinions on the matter, Zuko stood up silencing them. "Look! Kya wants to stay here—

"Zuko how can you—

"Because I've been her friend a lot longer than the rest of you. I know her." With that he took off into the darkness, leaving the rest to their thoughts.

----

Kya kicked her feet in the water of the fountain, looking up to the large moon overhead. The others had finally gone to bed and now she could walk around and think. She ended up at the fountain.

"Why do you think it is that makes you want to stay?"

Kya jumped and turned to see Zuko's face appearing out of the shadows. She clutched her heart but after the initial shock she turned her back to him. "What do you want Zuko?"

"I want to figure out why you just won't leave…So answer my question." Zuko joined her on the ledge of the fountain, dipping his hand into the water, swirling it around. "Talk to me, Ky.'"

"Why should I?!" she said suddenly angry. "What have you done for me, all—

Zuko laughed slightly, "Jeez, you really like to pull one-eighties on us don't you. One minute you're our friend, then you're snapping at us. And don't get on my case like that, at least I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my friend. I could have just let you go."

"Why don't you?! And you're not my friend anymore, Zuko."

Zuko was silent for a moment, then he spoke again, "I'm the one here who knows you best. We both know that. I'd like to at least try to find a way back to the relationship we had. I want my best friend back."

It was Kya's turn to be silent now. She was left speechless by the boy's heartfelt words. She sighed then whispered, "I don't think that's possible, Zuko." Suddenly, Zuko placed his hand on hers. Instinctively, not used to the contact, she pulled her hand away. She saw Zuko shake his head in the corner of her vision.

"Please let me try, Kya. Let me try to be a good friend to you. Regain your trust. It's all I want from you." There was a beat of silence between them. "Please tell me why you won't leave."

Kya released another sigh, "Well. You figured out basically why I don't want to stay…But," she shook her head, exasperated, " is it wrong to be friends with the enemy?" She didn't wait for Zuko to respond. "Of course it is! But that's what's happened, I feel close to you guys, like I have real friends for once. And even though all of you support everything I'm against, I think I'd miss the good feelings I get when I'm around you all. I feel like I have a family here." She was silent for another minute. "I'm sorry for my outburst today, I was just…scared."

"It's not wrong to be scared," murmured Zuko, "but you are doing the right thing."

Kya nodded, "I hope so…"

The pair again fell into silence. Zuko nudged Kya. "You know what I think would make the group see that you really want to be here?" Kya looked to him inquisitively. "You could really learn the moves Katara taught you. Show them what you learned in the morning."

Kya smiled, "That's a good idea. But I'll probably have to work all night to get it."

"Well I watched most of the lesson, I'll stay with you to help. With that the pair rolled up their clothes and hopped into the water.

----

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. Aang shook himself awake, feeling the sun begin to heat his face. He looked around at the pleasant scenery, listening to all the noises of the wild as they too greeted the day. He then heard some soft laughing, he turned to see Kya and Zuko, both looking exhausted, but somehow confident, coming up the stairs. He grinned at the pair. Obviously, Zuko had a talk with the Waterbender. He relaxed back onto the ground when suddenly a cylindrical objected whistled through the air. Aang immediately recognized it as a bomb and using his staff flung it away from him and his sleeping companions. The bomb hit a pillar, exploding and shaking the whole place. Zuko and Kya rushed to his side, everyone waking up in the chaos. Zuko and Kya turned to look at the balloon rising into their vision and there was Azula looked down at them with a mixture of surprise and amusement.


End file.
